JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia's police chief told lawmakers Thursday that an illegal wiretapping operation targeting President Prabowo Subianto also surveilled senior government officials, politicians, activists and law enforcement personnel, widening a scandal that has shaken the country’s political and security establishment.
Gen. Suyudi Ario Seto appeared before a parliamentary panel as lawmakers investigate the operation alleged to have involved several high-ranking officials, including Prabowo's own chief of staff. He alleged the targets of the surveillance included the president, officials within the presidential palace, ministries, state institutions, lawmakers, political party figures, governors, anti-corruption officials, activists and students.
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“The fact that someone appeared on the list of surveillance targets does not mean they are suspected of any wrongdoing,” Seto told parliament’s Commission III, which oversees law enforcement and security affairs.
The wiretap allegations came to light earlier this month after three senior police generals were detained including Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who was named chief of staff to Prabowo in October and has close ties to former President Joko Widodo. Since then, a fourth top police official has been implicated.
Prabowo's office said the operation was being investigated as a case of possible treason. The government ordered 20,000 troops to Jakarta as a precaution, though there has not yet been any sign of a major military presence on the streets of the capital, with most kept on standby in barracks.
Part of the investigation is determining the origin of the order to wiretap the president.
Widodo, known popularly in Indonesia as Jokowi, has ties to the main suspects, which already has deepened a rift between the former president and Prabowo, said Evan Laksmana, a Singapore-based analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“The majority of Prabowo's political decision making in the past two years always have some Jokowi overshadowing,” Laksmana said. “So this is kind of Prabowo finally potentially stepping out of Jokowi's shadow and maybe even going into open political confrontation.”
Parliament's Commission III is trying to determine the motive behind the wiretapping operation and uncover whether others were involved. Seto, whose office oversees the current investigation, took over from Listyo Sigit Prabowo as police chief after the latter was named Prabowo's chief of staff.
“We will see this case through until the facts are fully and clearly revealed,” said Commission III Chairman Habiburokhman, who like many Indonesians uses a single name. “Anyone found to be involved must be held legally accountable.”
Amnesty International has called for a complete investigation, saying the wiretap operation could have been used to intimidate critics and weaken civil liberties.
Demonstrators at recent protests in several major cities called for accountability in the wiretap case while criticizing Widodo's continued political influence and demanding the resignation of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is Widodo's son. On Tuesday, 154 people were detained in the city of Yogyakarta following clashes after a protest by about 2,000 students and activists.
In addition to Listyo Sigit Prabowo, authorities have detained National Police Legal Division head Ahrie Sonta Nasution and Eko Hadi Santoso, a senior instructor at the National Police Education and Training Institute, who are both two-star police generals.
Slamet Uliandi, a two-star police general who heads the Criminal Investigation Agency's Information and Communications Technology Division, has been implicated but is not in custody due to health reasons.
Nasution was dishonorably discharged from the police Tuesday following an internal ethics hearing that was prompted by the wiretap case. Similar proceedings against the three others were to be held soon, police spokesperson Johnny Eddizon Isir said.
None of the suspects have made any public statements about the case.
Listyo Sigit Prabowo previously served as police chief under Widodo, though the former president has not been implicated in the wiretapping investigation. Widodo has said little about the case other than to comment that the legal process should be respected as the investigation continues.
Prabowo, a former military general, lost two presidential races to Widodo but ended up serving as the popular leader's defense minister. He then campaigned as a successor to Widodo, who was term limited, and chose Widodo's son as his running mate and received Widodo's backing for his campaign.
But Raka on Tuesday offered to resign in response to an investigation into his academic credentials unrelated to the wiretap case, which has added to the political turmoil and the split between the current and former presidents.
“I think this will be a long, and most likely painful, breakup between Jokowi and Prabowo, and I don't think you can go back to normal after this,” Laksmana said. “And this is going to be a long painful breakup with many political and security ramifications across the country at a time when the country isn't doing well.”
Police alleged the unauthorized wiretapping took place between 2025 and 2026, after Prabowo took office and while Listyo Sigit Prabowo was still national police chief.
Little has been released so far about the investigation, but last week police said they had uncovered evidence that Nasution, who at one point was an aide-de-camp from the police forces to President Prabowo, requested Uliandi's permission in October to delete recordings made of Prabowo's telephone conversations. They said Uliandi approved the request and the files were deleted.
Nasution’s lawyer, Krisna Murti, did not directly address the allegations but said his client would cooperate fully.
“Our client will be open to clarifying this case,” Murti said in a video statement.
The hearing also offered the clearest indication yet of how investigators intend to pursue the case.
Although the presidential palace previously said the alleged targeting of Prabowo could amount to conduct “leading toward treason” because sensitive information obtained through surveillance of a head of state could endanger the country, Seto said investigators are currently pursuing criminal charges related to illegal interception of electronic communications and the handling of electronic data.
The suspects will be charged under Article 258 of Indonesia’s new Criminal Code, which prohibits the unlawful interception, recording, diversion, alteration, obstruction or monitoring of nonpublic electronic communications and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, Seto said.
They also face charges under Article 332 of the Criminal Code, punishable by up to six years in prison, and Article 32 of Indonesia’s Electronic Information and Transactions Law, which criminalizes the unauthorized alteration, destruction, deletion, transfer or concealment of electronic information and carries a maximum penalty of eight years.
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Rising reported from Bangkok.
