Indonesia arrests ex-police chief in wiretapping of president

Jakarta — Indonesia's former police chief has been arrested on suspicion of illegally wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto and a string of senior figures, the government said on Wednesday, in a case the presidential spokesman suggested could amount to treason. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, 57, was detained on Tuesday along with two other senior officers, days after he was sacked from his post as presidential chief of staff.

"What was done may have fallen into the category of being considered as leading to treason," presidential spokesman Prasetyo Hadi told reporters in Jakarta, adding that the alleged tapping "also constitutes actions that endanger the security of the interests of the state, including jeopardising the safety of the country's leader". He said the motive for the wiretapping was not yet known, and that Mr Prabowo had expressed his "profound concern".

According to The Hindu, the national police said Mr Listyo and the two other officers allegedly tapped the phones of the president, government officials, politicians, journalists, NGO representatives and businesspeople. Top detective Asep Safrudin said the surveillance was carried out "without any legal basis or without any investigative or inquiry process in accordance with applicable laws".

Investigators said the alleged wiretapping started in 2025, while Mr Listyo was still national police chief — a post he held before Mr Prabowo appointed him chief of staff in a cabinet reshuffle last month, the seventh since the former general took office in 2024.

The arrest lands at a difficult moment for Mr Prabowo, who faces pressure over his government's handling of the economy and destructive wildfires across the archipelago. The South China Morning Post reported that the scandal has fuelled speculation of a widening rift between the president and his predecessor, Joko Widodo, whose political alliance has underpinned the administration.

For now, much remains unconfirmed: the alleged wiretaps are police claims yet to be tested in court, and no formal charges have been detailed. The next signal of where the case is heading will be the police's decision on what offences — including any treason-related count — are put before prosecutors.