Troops deployed in Indonesia as president sacks aide accused of wiretapping

JAKARTA: Indonesia's president sacked his chief of staff on Wednesday following his arrest in a wiretapping scandal that the government said pointed to treason, as the military announced that thousands of troops were being mobilised in the capital to boost security.

Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who was appointed chief of staff just a few weeks ago, was among three senior police officers detained on Tuesday on suspicion of illegally tapping the phones of President Prabowo Subianto and unnamed journalists, politicians, government officials and business people since early 2025.

The illegal wiretaps were carried out by "rogue individuals" whose actions indicated treason, presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi said.

"It also tends towards acts that endanger state interests and the safety of the nation's leadership, including the safety of the head of state," Hadi told reporters.

Reuters could not immediately contact the three suspects or their lawyers.

The scandal comes as the president, a retired army general, faces pressure on multiple fronts, with growing public discontent over his big-spending populist policies and a slump in investor confidence over his administration's handling of the US$1.5 trillion G20 economy.

Political intrigue has been growing in Indonesia in recent weeks amid a rift between Prabowo and his two-term predecessor and former backer, Widodo, who remains highly influential despite stepping back from politics.

Listyo, the former national police chief, was known as a loyalist of Widodo.

Military mobilised to 'safeguard and protect stability'

Troops were deployed to Jakarta to "safeguard and protect the stability of Indonesia's security", navy spokesperson Tunggul said late on Wednesday.

The deployment was also related to upcoming training in areas near Jakarta, Tunggul, who goes by one name, added.

Soldiers on the capital's streets are not uncommon in Indonesia, where the military has regularly been deployed ahead of anti-government protests.

Elected president in 2024 by a large majority, former special forces commander Prabowo has seen his approval rating slide in his second year in office, amid unease over food prices and his troubled free meals and village cooperatives programmes.

His administration has also faced intense investor scrutiny this year, with ratings outlook cuts, concerns over policy unpredictability and record stock market routs following warnings by global index provider MSCI about a possible downgrade of the equities market.

Prabowo's party, Gerindra, said it would hold talks with other political parties to discuss the wiretapping, with its secretary-general, Sugiono, describing the scandal on Wednesday as "insubordination" within the government.

In a post on X on Wednesday, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed to Prabowo to "restore civility to our politics".

Motive for wiretaps unclear

The government has yet to determine the motive for the wiretapping, said Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia's senior minister for legal affairs.

Police said late on Tuesday that the suspects were being investigated over unauthorised wiretaps. The targets of the wiretaps were not disclosed.

Amnesty International in Indonesia urged authorities on Wednesday to reveal who had been targeted by the wiretaps, saying the public had a right to know.

"If this scandal is allowed to continue unchecked, it could pave the way for a secret police apparatus used to tame the opposition," it said.

Sana Jaffrey, a state-building researcher at the Australian National University, said the troop deployment in Jakarta could signal concerns about tensions between the military and police loyal to former chief Listyo.

"If Prabowo increasingly sees threats to his personal security, then this could strengthen the case for relying more heavily on the military," she said, adding that the immediate concern was the risk of unintended escalation.