Key facts
- Yusril Ihza Mahendra said a palace sweep for bugging devices is "something we will consider as an anticipation measure."
- Four senior police officers were arrested over the alleged unauthorized monitoring, including former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo.
- The government said the wiretapping pointed to treason; an investigation is underway and no formal charges have been announced.
- Authorities say the monitoring started after Prabowo took office in late 2024 and have not disclosed who was targeted.
- Prabowo met on Sunday with 10 former police chiefs, with the wiretapping scandal among the topics discussed, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said.
Indonesia will tighten controls on state surveillance equipment and consider sweeping the presidential palace for bugging devices, senior minister for legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Monday, November 9, 2026, after the discovery of illegal wiretaps on the president, top officials and others.
Asked whether authorities would search the palace for covert devices, Yusril said "it is something we will consider as an anticipation measure." He added that the government is taking steps to ensure wiretapping equipment held by certain agencies is not misused in the future.
The scandal led to the arrest of four senior police officers accused of unauthorized monitoring of phones, among them former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who had recently been appointed President Prabowo Subianto's chief of staff and was sacked after his arrest. The government has said the wiretapping pointed to treason. An investigation is underway and no formal charges have been announced.
Yusril said the investigation began after the national police received a tip, which its new chief investigated and reported to Prabowo. "Following this report, an investigation was launched, and it has become apparent where the wiretapping devices were located," he said, without elaborating.
Authorities have not revealed the full extent of the monitoring, which they say started after Prabowo took office in late 2024. Those monitored included business people, journalists, activists and political figures whose identities have not been disclosed, and it is not clear how many people were targeted.