Prabowo Sacks Aide Over Wiretapping Scandal
Prabowo wiretapping scandal reached the top of Indonesia’s government on Wednesday, when President Prabowo Subianto sacked his chief of staff a day after the man’s arrest over illegal phone taps. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, appointed chief of staff only a few weeks earlier, was among three senior police officers detained on Tuesday over taps on the phones of the president and other senior figures.
The government described the taps as the work of rogue individuals and said the conduct pointed toward treason. Presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi told reporters the wiretaps tended toward acts that endanger state interests and the safety of the nation’s leadership, including the safety of the head of state. The military said thousands of troops were being mobilised in the capital, Jakarta, to boost security.
Prabowo wiretapping scandal: who was arrested and why
Listyo, the former national police chief, had held that post for five years before becoming the president’s chief of staff last month. He is not a relative of the president, despite sharing the name Prabowo. Police said late on Tuesday that the suspects were being investigated for unauthorised wiretaps. The targets, according to the Dawn report carried from Reuters, included the president and unnamed journalists, politicians, government officials and business people, with tapping going back to last year. Other reporting put the start of the taps in early 2025.
Local media named the two other arrested officers as Ahrie Sonta Nasution, head of the legal division of the Indonesian National Police, and Eko Hadi Santoso, a senior officer at the national police educational institution. The government has not yet determined the motive for the wiretapping, the minister for legal affairs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, said. Amnesty International urged the authorities to reveal who the subjects of the wiretaps were, saying the public had a right to know. The targets of the wiretaps were not disclosed by police.
Troops were deployed in Jakarta to safeguard and protect the stability of Indonesia’s security, navy spokesperson Tunggul said. He added that the deployment was also related to upcoming training in areas near Jakarta. Soldiers on the capital’s streets are not uncommon in Indonesia, where the military is regularly deployed ahead of anti-government protests.
A president under pressure on several fronts
The scandal lands while Prabowo, a retired general elected president in 2024 by a large majority, faces falling approval in his second year in office. Public unease has grown over food prices and his troubled free meals and village cooperatives programmes. His administration has also faced intense investor scrutiny this year, with ratings outlook cuts, concern about unpredictable policy, and record stock market falls after warnings by global index provider MSCI of an equities market downgrade. Dawn put the size of the economy at stake at $1.5 trillion, a G20 economy.
Political intrigue has grown alongside those pressures. A rift has opened between Prabowo and his two-term predecessor and former backer, Joko Widodo, who remains highly influential despite stepping back from politics. Listyo was known as a loyalist of Widodo, which gives the arrest a political edge beyond the criminal allegation. Prabowo’s party, Gerindra, said it would hold talks with other political parties to discuss the wiretapping. Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed to Prabowo on X on Wednesday to restore civility to politics.
What happens next
Three questions will decide how far this scandal runs. The first is motive: the government has said it does not yet know why the phones were tapped, and that gap leaves room for rival explanations. The second is the list of targets: Amnesty’s call to name them will test how open the investigation is prepared to be. The third is the military’s role in Jakarta: a deployment described as both security and training will be watched for whether it grows or fades once the arrests move into formal proceedings.
For readers in Pakistan, the case is a reminder of how fast a security scandal can become a political one when the police, the military and a former president’s network are all involved. Feature Pakistan’s world coverage this week has also followed US sanctions on Indian companies over the Iran shadow fleet, Vance’s warning that the Iran war cost Republicans the midterms, and the ICJ ruling date in the Rohingya genocide case. The facts so far are narrow: three arrests, a sacking, a troop deployment, and a motive still unknown.
Frequently asked questions
Who did President Prabowo sack?
His chief of staff, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, a day after Listyo’s arrest over alleged illegal wiretapping.
Was Listyo related to the president?
No. He shares the name Prabowo but is not a relative of the president. He was national police chief for five years before becoming chief of staff last month.
Who else was arrested?
Two other senior police officers. Local media named them as Ahrie Sonta Nasution, head of the national police legal division, and Eko Hadi Santoso, a senior officer at the police educational institution.
Whose phones were allegedly tapped?
The president and unnamed journalists, politicians, government officials and business people, with tapping going back to last year or early 2025, according to the reports.
Why were troops deployed in Jakarta?
The military said thousands of troops were mobilised to safeguard the stability of Jakarta’s security, with a navy spokesperson adding that the deployment was also related to upcoming training near the capital.
