Three senior Indonesian police officials have been detained over allegations of illegally intercepting phone communications involving President Prabowo Subianto and other prominent figures, raising concerns over the misuse of state surveillance powers.
The state news agency Antara confirmed the development on November 3, citing investigators. The three officials were named as suspects following witness questioning and the seizure of electronic evidence.
They are accused of conducting unlawful wiretapping, accessing electronic systems without authorisation and deleting electronic data to conceal evidence.
The three officials are General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, President Prabowo’s chief of staff; Inspector General Ahrie Sonta Nasution, head of the National Police Legal Division; and Inspector General Eko Hadi Santoso, a senior instructor at the National Police Education and Training Institute. They are being held at the National Police headquarters detention centre in Jakarta.
National Police Criminal Investigation Agency chief Asep Safrudin said the alleged surveillance targeted the telephone numbers of the president, government officials, political leaders, journalists, community figures, non-governmental organisation workers and businesspeople. He made the disclosure at a news conference at police headquarters on Tuesday night.
Investigators have questioned 10 witnesses and three expert witnesses and seized 11 mobile phones, an iPad and four flash drives as evidence. Police allege the surveillance took place between 2025 and 2026, when Listyo was serving as national police chief.
According to investigators, several telephone numbers were added to the police's Lawful Interception Management System (LIMS) without proper verification or compliance with procedures established under a 2010 police regulation. The suspects are also accused of ordering the deletion of files containing intercepted conversations in an alleged attempt to destroy evidence and conceal the operation.
The investigation has not established why the surveillance was carried out. However, a separate report by Arab News quoted political analyst Ray Rangkuti as saying the operation may have been politically motivated, potentially linked to struggles over government power or internal competition for positions within the national police. He also warned that the case reflected wider concerns about democratic backsliding and the weakening of state institutions.
Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said investigators had found no indication of treason involving the three serving senior police officials. However, he described the alleged surveillance of the president and government ministers as a serious matter for the country.
Mahendra said the suspects could face charges under Article 258 of Indonesia's new Criminal Code, which prohibits unlawful interception, recording, diversion, alteration or monitoring of private electronic communications. The offence carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
They could also face charges under Article 332 of the Criminal Code, punishable by up to six years in prison, and Article 32 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law, which criminalises the unauthorised alteration, destruction, deletion, transfer or concealment of electronic information. The latter offence carries a maximum sentence of eight years.
Neither President Prabowo nor the three detained officials has publicly commented on the allegations. Police say the investigation is continuing.
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