Indonesia sacks presidential chief of staff amid wiretapping probe

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Indonesia sacks chief in wiretap probe

Highlights

President Prabowo Subianto dismissed chief of staff Listyo Sigit Prabowo after his arrest and two senior police officers for suspected illegal wiretapping targeting government and business figures.
Alleged unauthorized wiretaps, conducted from 2025 to 2024 and possibly constituting treason, have heightened state security concerns and prompted investigation into motive and data deletion.
The scandal exacerbates political instability as Prabowo faces declining approval ratings, efforts to regain investor confidence after stock selloffs, and potential MSCI equities market downgrade threats.

Dismissal follows arrests and treason warning

As reported by BusinessWorld, citing Reuters, President Prabowo Subianto dismisses chief of staff Listyo Sigit Prabowo on Wednesday, one day after authorities arrest him and two senior police officers on suspicion of illegally wiretapping the president, cabinet ministers, journalists, politicians and business people.

Presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi says the alleged actions may amount to treason and could endanger state interests as well as the safety of the nation's leadership, including the head of state. Listyo, who is not related to the president, had served as national police chief for five years before taking the chief of staff post last month.

Senior legal affairs minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra says the government has yet to determine the motive for the alleged surveillance. Police say late on Tuesday that the suspects are investigated for unlawful wiretaps carried out from 2025 to this year without a formal request from investigators, and that they ordered electronic records of their monitoring activities to be deleted last month.

Political and market pressure intensifies

The case emerges as Prabowo faces mounting pressure on several fronts, including a weakening approval rating and dissatisfaction over his policies. His administration is also trying to restore investor confidence after record stock market selloffs, a declining currency and warnings of an equities market downgrade by index provider MSCI.

Police initially identify the suspects only by the letters of their names, while local media name the other two detained officers as Ahrie Sonta Nasution, head of the national police legal division, and Eko Hadi Santoso, a senior officer at the national police educational institution. Reuters says it could not immediately contact the three suspects or their lawyers.

Political analyst Yanuar Nugroho, a visiting senior fellow at Singapore's Yusof Ishak Institute, says the chief of staff role under Prabowo has diminished in importance and that Listyo may have been moved there from the more influential national police chief post. He adds that Prabowo needs a police chief he can trust and says Listyo is known as a loyalist of former President Joko Widodo.

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