Police identified a senior official as SU on 5 November 2026, after three officers were arrested and the president dismissed his chief of staff. Investigators allege SU approved the interception. On 9 November 2026, Indonesia’s legal affairs minister said the government would tighten controls on surveillance equipment to prevent misuse and consider checking the presidential palace for hidden devices.
Indonesian police named a senior law enforcement official identified as SU as the fourth suspect in the investigation into alleged wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto. Police announced the decision at a news conference on 5 November 2026, Al Jazeera said on 6 November.
The announcement followed the arrest of 3 senior police officers on 3 November, including former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who had become the president’s chief of staff.
Police said SU headed the Criminal Investigation Agency’s information and technology unit from 2021 to 2026. Investigators allege that he authorized the wiretapping.
Cybercrime unit director Suhermanto said 2 other suspects obtained SU’s approval before intercepting communications and also sought his approval before deleting interception records. At the news conference, Suhermanto said SU had not yet been detained because of a health condition.
Police were still investigating the motive behind the alleged attempts to intercept the president’s communications when Al Jazeera published its account.
On 4 November, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi announced that President Prabowo Subianto had signed a decree dismissing Listyo Sigit Prabowo as chief of staff. Hadi said the decision followed Listyo’s designation as a suspect in alleged wiretapping, deletion of electronic evidence and illegal access.
The State Secretariat said the president appointed Presidential Secretariat head Ariyo Windutomo as acting chief of staff to fill the vacancy.
The court ruled that the deadline for bringing an accused person before a magistrate begins at detention, not when an investigating agency records a formal arrest.
Senior minister for legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on 9 November 2026, that Indonesia would tighten controls on state surveillance equipment to prevent government agencies from misusing it. CNA said that 4 senior police officers had been arrested over alleged unauthorized monitoring of phones, including Listyo. The investigation remained underway, and no formal charges had been announced.
Asked about checking the presidential palace for hidden electronic devices, Mahendra said the government would consider it as a preventive measure. He did not announce that checks had been authorized or conducted.
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