Indonesia police say enough evidence for treason charges in wiretap scandal

Indonesian police said on Thursday they have enough initial evidence to pursue treason charges against four suspects in a case involving the wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto, as lawmakers urged detectives to uncover who ordered the ‌bugging.

Former police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who is not related to the president, and three other senior police officials were arrested last week over accusations of unauthorised monitoring of phones belonging to Prabowo, government officials, activists and journalists.

The case has exposed political tensions in Indonesia between Prabowo and his popular predecessor Joko Widodo, as Listyo was widely seen as a close aide of Widodo.

Listyo in October was ⁠reassigned from his job as the nation’s police chief to Prabowo’s chief of staff, before he was sacked following the ‌arrest.

“We have found, based on investigations, … enough early evidence to create a police report regarding the crime of treason,” the national police’s top criminal investigator Asep Safrudin told reporters after ‌attending a hearing with parliament’s legal affairs commission.

He did not provide details about the evidence, but ⁠said “intensive” investigations will be ⁠done to develop the case further. Treason charges carry the death penalty in Indonesia.

02:41

Indonesia arrests three top police officers for allegedly tapping president’s phone

Reuters was unable to contact Listyo, the other officers or their legal representatives. Krisna Murti, a lawyer representing one of the officers, said last week his client would cooperate with investigators, according to local media ‌Kumparan.

Police have ‌questioned 38 witnesses, including those working for telecommunication providers and the vendor involved in the wiretapping operations, they said.

During ‌the hearing, several lawmakers complained that their phones were bugged and called for the police to uncover the depth ⁠of the wiretapping scandal.

“Please unveil who benefited from the wiretapping and immediately name that person as a suspect,” said ⁠lawmaker Safaruddin from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the biggest party in parliament.

“Listyo doesn’t understand politics, but someone asked Listyo Sigit to conduct the wiretapping for their own political interests,” he added, urging the ‌police to also investigate who funded ‌the operations.

Separately on Thursday, Prabowo’s Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is Widodo’s son, handed over his resignation letters to parliament and Prabowo.

Jokowi said he would continue to support Prabowo, while Prabowo said he accepted the resignation with a “heavy heart”, comments that could soothe signs of strain emerging in their political alliance.