Indonesia Names Fourth Suspect in Alleged Wiretapping of President Prabowo
Police say a senior law enforcement official identified as SU authorized the interception of President Prabowo Subianto's communications, in a scandal straining ties with former leader Joko Widodo.
By Isabella Kaur ·
Indonesian police have named a fourth suspect in the widening investigation into the alleged wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto, a scandal that has unsettled the country's political establishment and raised security concerns in the capital.
At a news conference late on Thursday, police identified the newest suspect only by the initials SU, describing him as a senior law enforcement official. Local media later reported his name as Slamet Uliandi. According to police, SU served as monitoring chief at the Criminal Investigation Agency from 2010 to 2019, and went on to lead the agency's information and technology unit between 2021 and 2026.
Investigators allege that SU gave the go-ahead for the interception of the president's communications. "When the other two suspects were about to wiretap, they got approval from SU. They also asked his approval before deleting interception records," cybercrime unit director Suhermanto told the media conference. He added that SU has not yet been detained because of a health condition.
The announcement came two days after the arrest of three senior police officers on Tuesday. Among them was former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who served as the president's chief of staff and is widely known as a loyalist of former President Joko Widodo.
The case has exposed a deepening rift between Prabowo and Widodo, his predecessor and former ally. Prabowo took office in 2024 after winning the election in a landslide as Widodo's continuity candidate, and Widodo's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was elected as his vice president.
Lawmakers are now considering a probe into Raka's eligibility, a step that could open the path toward removing him from office.
The scandal has piled further pressure on Prabowo, who is already contending with growing public discontent over his costly populist policies and weakening investor confidence in Indonesia's $1.5 trillion economy.
Police say the motives behind the attempts to intercept the president's communications are still under investigation. So far, officers have questioned 13 police personnel and five criminal and information technology experts. Spokesperson Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko said the national police chief has also formed a special team to investigate the case.
Jakarta remained calm on Thursday and Friday despite the deployment of thousands of troops following the wiretapping revelations. Military tents and buses were seen in the capital, along with a small number of soldiers.
