Indonesia Weighs Bug Sweeps of Palace After Wiretap Scandal

Senior minister for legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters on Monday that a palace bug sweep is on the table. Asked whether authorities would check the presidential palace for covert devices, he called it 'something we will consider as an anticipation measure.' He added the government is taking steps to make sure wiretapping equipment held by certain agencies 'is not misused' in the future.

The scandal erupted last week with the arrest of four senior police officers accused of unauthorised phone monitoring. Among them was former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who had recently been handed the job of presidential chief of staff and was sacked after his arrest. He is no relation to President Prabowo Subianto and is widely seen as a loyalist of two-term predecessor Joko Widodo.

Those monitored included business people, journalists, activists and political figures, though authorities have not named them or said how many were targeted. The government has said the wiretapping pointed to treason, and an investigation is running with no formal charges announced yet. Yusril said the probe 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 say the monitoring started after Prabowo took office in late 2024.

Deputy house speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said Prabowo met 10 former police chiefs on Sunday, and the wiretapping scandal was part of the discussion. The case lands as Prabowo faces public pressure over costly social programmes and his administration fights to restore investor confidence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, after a run of setbacks that battered its stock market and currency this year. It has also thrown a spotlight on rising political tension and a rift between Prabowo and Widodo, the predecessor who once backed him.