Indonesia arrests ex-police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo over alleged wiretaps of president

Three suspects detained

On Tuesday, 3 November 2026, the head of the criminal investigation agency, Asep Safrudin, said three suspects had been detained over alleged illegal wiretapping. Officials have not named them publicly; he referred to them only by the initials LSP, ASN and EH. According to Kompas, the other two are Ahrie Sonta Nasution, head of the police legal division, and Eko Hadi Santoso, an inspector general. Indonesian media have named former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo as one of the suspects. He was removed from that post on 1 October and later named head of the Presidential Secretariat in a government reshuffle. The three are held at the detention centre of national police headquarters, while a fourth person, identified as SU, is still being questioned as a witness.

How the case came to light

The case surfaced on 30 October 2026, when several police officers who had learned of the alleged taps filed a report. Investigators have since questioned 10 witnesses and three expert witnesses, and they seized 11 phones, an iPad and four USB sticks.

Mobile phones seized11

iPad seized1

USB sticks seized4

Witnesses questioned10

Expert witnesses questioned3

Mobile phones seized

11 count

iPad seized

1 count

USB sticks seized

4 count

Witnesses questioned

10 count

Expert witnesses questioned

3 count

Data from the article text

According to Asep, between 2025 and 2026 the suspects ordered several numbers to be entered into the police Lawful Interception Management System, LIMS, without verification, and those numbers were then tapped. He said that in October 2026 the suspects ordered intercepted files deleted from the system, a step police believe was meant to hide evidence. Asep stressed that the taps had no basis in any police process.

“Then those numbers were tapped without any link to any law enforcement process, whether investigation or prosecution, under the applicable laws.”

Who was allegedly targeted

Asep said the intercepted calls belonged to the president, state officials, political figures, media figures, leaders of civil society groups and NGOs, and businesspeople. The police have said the president's number was among those tapped. Investigators point to the period from 2025 to 2026 for the wiretaps. The authorities have not disclosed a motive for the operation.

Charges and next steps

Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the three face several charges. The most serious carries a maximum of 10 years in prison for unlawfully intercepting non-public electronic communications. Two other offences, including the deletion of data, carry a maximum of six years. The minister said investigators have no indication that the suspects sought to endanger Indonesia's security, although that could change if they passed state secrets to other parties.