Prabowo Sacks Chief of Staff Listyo Sigit After Wiretap Arrest, Palace Cites Treason Risk

President Prabowo Subianto sacked his chief of staff Listyo Sigit Prabowo on Wednesday after police detained him and two other senior officers on suspicion of illegally intercepting communications of the president, cabinet ministers, journalists, politicians and business figures.

Listyo, who is not related to the president, had served as national police chief for five years under former president Joko Widodo before taking the chief of staff post on October 1. Presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi told reporters the dismissal followed a presidential decree. He said the alleged wiretapping, carried out from 2025 into this year, may fall into a category that can be regarded as acts tending toward treason and that endanger state interests and the safety of the nation’s leadership.

Police named Listyo and two-star generals Ahrie Sonta Nasution and Eko Hadi Santoso as suspects in unlawful wiretaps, unlawful access to electronic systems and deletion of electronic data. They were detained on Sunday. Investigators have examined 10 witnesses and three expert witnesses and seized 11 mobile phones, an iPad and four flash drives. The suspects face charges under the Criminal Code and the Electronic Information and Transactions Law. Conviction could bring up to 10 years in prison.

Senior minister for legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the motive has not yet been determined. Prasetyo Hadi described the actions as the work of certain rogue individuals. The palace has not released details of the specific conversations intercepted or the number of devices involved beyond the seizures.

Listyo held the police chief post from 2021. His appointment as chief of staff last month placed a career officer at the center of the presidential apparatus. The military has deployed more than 20,000 troops and personnel to Jakarta as the investigation proceeds. Lieutenant-General Ariyo Windutomo, head of the Presidential Secretariat, has been named acting chief of staff.

The case arrives while Prabowo faces pressure over economic handling and wildfires. It also intersects with ongoing scrutiny of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of Joko Widodo. Authorities have not linked the wiretap allegations to any specific political faction or external actor. The government has said findings will be made public in due course.

Under Indonesian law, makar covers attempts on the life or liberty of the president and efforts to overthrow the government. The palace statement used the term in describing the possible classification of the alleged acts. No formal treason charges have been filed. Police continue to investigate the origin of the interception equipment and the chain of command that may have ordered the taps.

The arrests and sacking mark one of the largest internal security scandals involving the national police in recent years. Listyo had been viewed as a stabilizing figure within the force. His rapid rise to the presidential staff and equally rapid removal leave the palace without a permanent chief of staff while investigators examine whether the surveillance extended beyond the named targets.

Prabowo took office in 2024. The wiretap probe began after a police officer filed a report on Friday. Since then the Criminal Investigation Body has led the inquiry. No public statement from Listyo or the other suspects has appeared. The palace has expressed profound concern over the revelations and has not indicated whether further personnel changes are under consideration.

The deployment of troops in the capital signals the government’s assessment that the allegations carry implications for state security. How the investigation proceeds, and whether it expands to include additional officers or civilians, will determine the scale of the disruption inside the security apparatus. For now, the chief of staff post remains in acting hands and the three named officers remain in detention.