Listyo Sigit wiretapping case: 4 generals named as suspects

Key takeaways

• Indonesian police named former national police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo and two serving inspector generals as suspects on Nov 3, 2026, over alleged illegal tapping of President Prabowo Subianto's phone and those of officials, media figures, activists and businesspeople in 2025-2026. A fourth general was named on Nov 5.
• Prabowo removed Listyo as presidential chief of staff on Nov 4 and named Lt. Gen. Aryo Windutomo acting chief, according to Kompas.
• Police cited interception, illegal-access and data-deletion offences. Treason under Article 191 of the new Criminal Code is being examined, Coordinating Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said, but has not been charged.
• More than 20,000 troops were called in to Jakarta, AP reported; the military described the deployment as routine, and the palace has not linked it to the case.
• The IHSG fell 3.78% to 4,904.29 at the Nov 3 close (09:00 UTC), then recovered to 5,030.26 by the Nov 5 close. Market reports did not name the wiretapping case as the cause of the Nov 3 drop.

Indonesia's wiretapping scandal centres on Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who ran the National Police from 2021 until October 2026 and then became President Prabowo Subianto's chief of staff. Police now accuse him and three other generals of using the force's lawful-interception system to tap the president without legal basis, the Associated Press reported on Nov 3. All four are suspects, not convicted, and none had publicly responded in the reports Bullquill reviewed.

The case reaches into the president's own office: Listyo had been named chief of staff in October 2026, in a cabinet reshuffle, ABC News reported. This explainer sets out who has been named, what police allege, which laws are in play, how the government has responded, and what Jakarta's stock and currency markets did between Nov 3 and Nov 5.

Who has been named in the Indonesia wiretapping case?

Commissioner General Asep Safrudin, head of the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim), announced the first three suspects at police headquarters on Tuesday, Nov 3, according to AP and Kompas. A fourth was announced two days later.

AP reported on Nov 3 that the first three were held at the National Police headquarters detention centre. Kompas reported on Nov 6 that Brig. Gen. Suhermanto, Bareskrim's director of cybercrime, announced Slamet Uliandi as a suspect on Nov 5 and said police had not detained him because of his health.

What police allege

According to AP and ABC News (Australia), police allege the suspects intercepted communications illegally, accessed electronic systems without authorisation and deleted electronic data. The key points are:

• Targets: the president's phone number, plus numbers belonging to state officials, political figures, media figures, community leaders, NGO activists and businesspeople. Asep said the suspects carried out "non-procedural or illegal tapping against the telephone numbers of the president of the Republic of Indonesia," ABC News reported.
• Period: 2025 to 2026, while Listyo was still police chief, AP reported.
• Method: numbers were allegedly entered into the police Lawful Interception Management System (LIMS) without verification, bypassing a 2010 National Police regulation.
• Cover-up allegation: the suspects allegedly ordered deletion of intercepted files from LIMS to hide evidence. Kompas reported that Suhermanto said Slamet Uliandi controlled access to the tapping equipment and approved a request to delete the files.
• Evidence: by Nov 3, police had questioned 10 witnesses and three expert witnesses and seized 11 mobile phones, an iPad and four flash drives, AP reported.

Police have not disclosed a motive. ABC News reported that police had not said whether anyone received the intercepted conversations.

What charges could the suspects face?

The articles cited so far concern interception and data offences, not treason. AP and Kompas listed them as follows:

The treason question has shifted within two days. On Nov 3, Yusril, the coordinating minister for law, said investigators had found "no indication of treason," AP reported. By Nov 4, Beritanasional reported from Banda Aceh that Yusril said the case was starting to point towards an act meant to make the president unable to govern, as covered by Article 191. He said this was still being examined and that investigators had not applied the treason article.

The palace has gone further. State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, who also speaks for the president, said on Nov 4 that the conduct may fall into a category "that points toward treason, endangering national security and interests," the Jakarta Globe reported. He also said it involved "certain individuals acting on their own." Until prosecutors file charges, any treason count remains possible, not decided.

How the government responded

Prabowo removed Listyo as chief of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) on Wednesday, Nov 4, a day after he was named a suspect. Prasetyo announced the decision at the palace and named Lt. Gen. Aryo Windutomo as acting chief, according to a Kompas report timestamped 12:06 WIB (05:06 UTC). Al Jazeera, carrying AFP, AP and Reuters reporting, also said Listyo was fired a day after his arrest was announced.

Prasetyo said the president had told National Police Chief Suyudi Ario Seto to make sure the case "is handled properly," the Jakarta Globe reported. Prabowo himself had not commented on the case, AP reported on Nov 5.

Rights groups framed the case more broadly. The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said use of tapping equipment without a lawful basis "would constitute a human rights violation and an abuse of authority" if proven, ABC News reported. Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said: "This is not merely about the alleged wiretapping of the president," AP reported.

Why are troops in Jakarta?

More than 20,000 troops were called in to Jakarta, AP reported on Nov 5. Military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Muhammad Nas described the deployment of marines and other personnel as a "normal occurrence," and AP said most troops were kept in barracks with no visible presence on the streets.

The Jakarta Post reported on an internal military document it did not verify, describing a four-phase plan covering nearly 21,000 Navy personnel: 2,100 already in Jakarta, 5,740 brought in from outside the capital, and 13,140 on standby at their bases. Navy spokesperson First Adm. Tunggul M. Han told the paper the deployment was part of efforts to maintain national security and stability and to prepare for military exercises near Jakarta.

The presidential palace has not linked the deployment to the wiretapping case, AP reported. Separately, 6,770 police and military personnel secured former president Joko Widodo's appearance on Nov 5 as a witness in a defamation trial over claims about his university diploma, a case AP said is unrelated to the wiretapping investigation. AP also reported that Widodo, under whom Listyo served as police chief, has not been implicated.

How the IHSG and rupiah moved, Nov 3-5

Jakarta's main index fell sharply on the day the suspects were named, then recovered most of the loss by Thursday. Closing levels below are from CNBC Indonesia and Yahoo Finance; the reference rate is Bank Indonesia's JISDOR as reported by IDN Times.

Over the three sessions, the IHSG ended 66.57 points, or 1.31%, below its Nov 2 close. JISDOR moved from 18,148 to 18,094 per dollar between Nov 3 and Nov 5, a 0.30% firming of the rupiah.

The cause of the Nov 3 drop has not been tied to the scandal in the reports Bullquill reviewed. The Jakarta Globe cited brokers pointing to foreign selling, positioning before the MSCI index review on Nov 11-12, food inflation of 5.81% in October, an AI-related tech selloff in Asia and caution before the US midterm elections. Kompas published its English report on the suspects at 20:16 WIB (13:16 UTC), after the market closed, but the time of the police press conference was not stated, so it is not clear whether traders knew of it during the session.

The case did enter market commentary the next day. CNBC Indonesia's Nov 4 close report described the wiretapping of the president as a domestic concern that could add to investor worries about security and political risk, without calling it the driver of that day's move. IDN Times quoted analyst Ibrahim Assuaibi saying the case could raise political uncertainty and make investors more cautious, as the spot rupiah closed 0.04% weaker at 18,168 on Nov 4. On Nov 5, CNBC Indonesia pointed to US midterm results, while IDN Times, citing Bloomberg data, reported the rupiah closed 0.47% stronger at 18,082 on the day Statistics Indonesia reported 5.47% third-quarter growth.

For more on the market context, see Bullquill's report on the IHSG's fall below 5,000, the daily briefs for Nov 4 and Nov 5, the Q3 GDP release and the background on foreign flows and the MSCI review.

What it means

For investors in Indonesia and across ASEAN, the case is a governance story first. It raises questions about oversight of state surveillance tools and about relations between the presidency, the police and Widodo's camp. AP noted that Prabowo's relationship with Widodo has come under growing scrutiny since he took office.

The price data so far point to a contained reaction. The IHSG recovered to 5,030.26 by Nov 5, and JISDOR ended the period stronger than on Nov 3. That does not rule out further moves if the investigation widens, but brokers quoted in the reports reviewed pointed to MSCI, foreign flows and global events as the main drivers this week.

The next points to watch:

• whether prosecutors add a treason count under Article 191, which Yusril has said is still being examined;
• whether police identify a motive or anyone who received the intercepted material;
• whether Slamet Uliandi is detained once his health allows, and whether more suspects are named;
• whether the Jakarta deployment is scaled down once the planned exercises take place;
• the MSCI review on Nov 11-12, which the Jakarta Globe's sources flagged as a separate pressure on Indonesian stocks.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.