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Listyo Sigit Prabowo, then Indonesia's National Police chief, speaks at a press conference in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, in December 2022, concerning an explosion at a local police station. /Reuters-Yonhap

Indonesian police have named three police generals as suspects and detained them over allegations of illegally wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto's mobile phone. Local media reported that one of the detained generals was Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the current presidential chief of staff who served as National Police chief until last month.

According to AFP and local daily Kompas on Wednesday, Asep Safrudin, head of the Indonesian National Police's Criminal Investigation Agency, held a press conference in Jakarta the previous day and identified the three suspects only by their initials, "LSP," "ASN" and "EH." Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra also described LSP only as an "active police general" at a separate press conference, without revealing his full name. All three are currently being held at the National Police headquarters detention center.

Local media outlets, including Kompas, reported that LSP was Presidential Chief of Staff Listyo, ASN was Ahrie Sonta Nasution, head of the National Police's Legal Division, and EH was Eko Hadi Santoso, an instructor at a police training institution. Listyo, who became National Police chief in January 2021, was appointed presidential chief of staff in a cabinet reshuffle on Oct. 1 and received a decoration from President Prabowo the same day. Despite sharing the name "Prabowo," he is not related to the president.

According to police, the suspects are accused of conducting illegal wiretapping unrelated to any formal investigation. Police believe they ordered wiretaps between 2025 and 2026, a period that largely overlapped with Listyo's tenure as National Police chief, without written requests from investigators or police reports. Investigators found that the targeted phone numbers had been entered without authorization into the police's Lawful Interception Management System (LIMS) servers without undergoing verification procedures. The targets included President Prabowo, as well as government officials, politicians, journalists, members of civic organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and businesspeople.

The investigation moved quickly, with the suspects identified and detained just four days after an internal report was filed. Police said the suspects had ordered the deletion of intercepted communication files from computers used for the interception system around last month, and that a police officer who became aware of the alleged misconduct reported it on Oct. 30. Police subsequently questioned 10 witnesses and three expert witnesses and seized 11 mobile phones, one iPad and four flash drives. Another individual identified by the initials "SU" is also being questioned as a witness. The suspects face charges of illegal interception, unauthorized access and deletion of electronic information. If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.

The Indonesian government acknowledged the seriousness of the case while distancing it from allegations of treason. Minister Yusril said President Prabowo had been informed of the case through a report from the National Police chief, describing the wiretapping of the president and ministers without their even knowing why as "a serious problem for the country." However, he stressed that the applicable legal provisions concerned wiretapping and interception, not treason, and that there were no indications of treason. He added that investigators were still working to determine what had been intercepted and why, as the investigation remained in its early stages. Asep Edi Suheri, the National Police's inspector general, also said, "This is an individual matter, not a policy of the police institution."

The case emerged at a time when President Prabowo was facing growing political pressure two years after taking office. According to AFP, the president's approval rating has declined amid a series of protests in recent weeks over economic difficulties, corruption and concerns about authoritarianism, as well as the government's response to wildfires and toxic haze that have persisted for months. AFP also reported that Listyo was known as a close ally of former President Joko Widodo, Prabowo's predecessor and political rival.

As a follow-up measure, the Indonesian government said it would review how wiretapping powers are exercised by the police, prosecutors, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the National Narcotics Agency and other agencies. Minister Yusril said a successor to the presidential chief of staff had not yet been discussed, but that the position needed to be filled, at least on an acting basis. The suspects, including Listyo, have yet to comment on the allegations.

                                                                                                              Jeong Ri-na