For decades, Indonesia's police and intelligence agencies have been accused of spying on politicians, journalists, and activists,
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police → accuse → politicians
Now, a widening scandal involving some of the country's most senior police officers has brought those concerns to the heart of government.
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scandal → widen → government
Earlier this month, Indonesian police named four senior officers as suspects in an alleged illegal surveillance operation targeting President Prabowo Subianto and other prominent figures.
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police → name → Subianto
Former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who is not related to the president, was among the senior officers arrested.
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who → relate → officers
The ex-police chief became the president's chief of staff in October, just weeks before the scandal broke.
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scandal → become → October
Investigators claim that officers intercepted communications without proper authorization in 2025 and 2026 and then tried to delete records of the operation.
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officers → claim → operation
Suyudi Ario Seto, the new police chief, told a parliamentary panel this week that the surveillance targeted the president, officials within the presidential palace, ministries, state institutions, lawmakers, political party figures, governors, anti-corruption officials, activists and students.
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surveillance → tell → palace
A parliamentary commission is investigating the motive behind the wiretapping operation and trying to uncover whether other senior figures were involved.
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figures → investigate → operation
Meanwhile, the police have opened an investigation into possible treason-related offenses.
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police → open → offenses
Amnesty International has called for investigations to also determine whether the wiretap operation was used to intimidate government critics and weaken civil liberties.
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operation → call → liberties
The government has responded by ordering an additional 20,000 troops to Jakarta as a precaution, although there had been no indication that the wiretap is part of a larger campaign intended to bring down Prabowo's administration.
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wiretap → respond → administration
The affair has intensified tensions between Prabowo and his predecessor, Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, while exposing deeper problems with the powers and political loyalties of Indonesia's security establishment.
"The use of surveillance is actually pretty widespread," Yohanes Sulaiman, an associate professor at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani, told DW.
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Sulaiman → intensify → DW
"While there are laws and regulations, they are flouted since there is no regulation on eavesdropping, especially by law enforcement agencies," he added.
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he → be → agencies
Officially, Indonesia's Electronic Information and Transactions Law prohibits unauthorized interception, while other legislation permits surveillance for specified law enforcement and intelligence purposes.
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legislation → prohibit → purposes
Despite these safeguards against illegal interception, Sulaiman said it could be argued, "that the police and intelligence are essentially unconstrained.
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police → say → interception
Indonesia's intelligence agencies and law enforcement have long played a role in political competition, Gatra Priyandita, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told DW.
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Priyandita → play → DW
Under Suharto's authoritarian New Order regime, which collapsed in 1998, intelligence agencies were central in monitoring political opponents and suppressing dissent.
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agencies → collapse → dissent
After democratization, controversies persisted.
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controversies → persist → democratization
In 1999, a leaked recording of a telephone conversation involving then-President BJ Habibie raised concerns about surveillance within the presidential palace itself.
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recording → leak → palace
In 2024, the elite counterterrorism unit, Densus 88, was caught surveilling Deputy Attorney General Febrie Adriansyah, who at the time was overseeing major corruption investigations.
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who → catch → investigations
But what makes the latest allegations particularly significant is "their apparent scale and the suggestion that surveillance capabilities may have been deployed outside established legal procedures and against the sitting president," Priyandita said.
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Priyandita → make → president
A delicate moment for the leadership
Since taking office in October 2024, Prabowo, a former special forces general, has sought to consolidate his authority over the country's political and security institutions.
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Prabowo → take → institutions
Critics accuse him of accelerating the militarization of civilian government, including through legislation expanding the military's ability to occupy civilian posts.
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Critics → accuse → posts
However, the president inherited a security establishment partly shaped by his predecessor.
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president → inherit → predecessor
In 2024, Jokowi, who couldn't run for office again, backed Prabowo's presidential campaign and his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, became Prabowo's running mate and subsequently vice president.
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son → run → campaign
The Jokowi-Prabowo alliance was decisive for Prabowo's electoral victory, but it also left him governing alongside officials and political networks cultivated during Jokowi's decade in power.
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it → leave → power
On Thursday, Jokowi's son Gibran resigned as vice president amid a growing controversy over his educational credentials.
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son → resign → credentials
Indonesia's Constitutional Court and the country's Supreme Court found that Gibran's overseas high school qualifications fell short of legal requirements for vice presidential candidates, and had been wrongly accepted by election authorities.
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qualifications → find → authorities
The academic credentials probe was apparently not related to the investigations into the wiretapping scandal.
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probe → relate → scandal
Can Indonesia reform its security establishment?
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Indonesia → reform → establishment
A series of government reshuffles in recent months has also been interpreted as Prabowo's attempt to strengthen his control, especially against some Jokowi loyalists.
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series → interpret → loyalists
Listyo, appointed police chief by Jokowi in 2021 and long regarded as close to the former president, was replaced in October.
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Listyo → appoint → October
"Prabowo may have consolidated his political authority since taking office, but that does not necessarily translate into complete control over institutions whose senior leadership and internal networks were shaped under the previous Jokowi government," Priyandita said.
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Priyandita → consolidate → government
Also, Prabowo may emerge politically stronger if the investigation weakens rival networks within the police.
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investigation → emerge → police
However, replacing one set of political loyalties with another would do little to resolve the underlying problem in the country's security apparatus.
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replacing → replace → apparatus
The controversy has renewed calls for reforms that would prevent police surveillance capabilities from becoming instruments of political competition.
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that → renew → competition
Because the latest wiretapping controversy targeted not only the president but also political elites and key civil society actors, "surveillance goes beyond mere politics," Nicky Fahrizal, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, told DW.
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Fahrizal → target → DW
"It is a calculated and systematic abuse of power," he added.
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he → add → power
Fahrizal argued that a fundamental problem lies in the National Police's constitutional and institutional position, which answers directly to the president.
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which → argue → president
This increases the risk that the police respond to presidential political interests rather than solely to the law.
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police → increase → law
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
