Prabowo sacks chief of staff over wiretapping case as troops deploy to Jakarta
Former police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo is accused of tapping the president's phone, as more than 20,000 personnel head to the capital.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto sacked his chief of staff on Wednesday, a day after the aide was detained over an alleged illegal wiretapping operation targeting the president. The military is also moving troops into Jakarta, CNA and The Straits Times reported, the latter carrying a Reuters report.
Listyo Sigit Prabowo, a former national police chief, and two other senior police officers are accused of tapping the phones of the president and of journalists, politicians, officials and business people since 2025. Authorities allege the operation involved deleting electronic evidence, CNA said, and that it reportedly ran into 2026. Reuters could not immediately contact the suspects or their lawyers.
Presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi said: "What was done may have fallen into the category of being considered as leading to treason." CNA noted the maximum penalty for treason against the president is death by firing squad. Legal affairs minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the government had yet to determine a motive.
Reuters said only that thousands of troops were being mobilised. CNA, citing navy operations assistant Yayan Sofiyan, put the total at 20,980 personnel, starting with 2,100 already stationed in Jakarta on Monday and with troops from Java and Lampung province due from Wednesday. Another 13,140 are on standby.
Authorities have not confirmed any link to the investigation, CNA reported. Armed forces spokesperson Muhammad Nas called the movement standard procedure, while navy spokesperson Tunggul told Reuters it was to "safeguard and protect the stability of Indonesia's security" and was also related to upcoming training near Jakarta.
Sana Jaffrey, a researcher at the Australian National University, told Reuters the deployment could signal concern about tension between the military and police loyal to Listyo. "If Prabowo increasingly sees threats to his personal security, then this could strengthen the case for relying more heavily on the military," she said.
Prabowo removed Listyo as police chief on Oct 1 and made him chief of staff soon after. Army lieutenant Ariyo Windutomo, head of the Presidential Secretariat, is now acting in the role. Reuters described Listyo as a loyalist of former president Joko Widodo, with whom Prabowo has a growing rift, and said the president also faces public discontent over his spending policies and a slump in investor confidence.
Amnesty International in Indonesia urged authorities to reveal who was targeted, warning the affair "could pave the way for a secret police apparatus used to tame the opposition" if left unchecked. Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed on X for Prabowo to "restore civility to our politics".
Prabowo's Gerindra party, whose secretary-general Sugiono called the scandal "insubordination", said it would hold talks with other political parties about the wiretapping.
Sources: The Straits Times, Troops deployed in Indonesia as President sacks aide accused of wiretapping; CNA, Indonesia deploys over 20,000 troops to Jakarta amid wiretapping probe.
