Bamsoet Supports New Law to Counter Espionage and Foreign Intervention
Bambang Soesatyo (Bamsoet), a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) from the Golkar Party and the 15th Chairman of the MPR RI, has voiced his support for the proposal by the Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), General (Ret.) Muhammad Herindra, for Indonesia to implement an Anti-Espionage and Foreign Intervention Law.
According to Bamsoet, the proposal is relevant to the changing nature of threats to national sovereignty, which are becoming increasingly complex, cross-border, and often occurring in the grey areas between diplomatic, economic, technological, cyber, and information activities, as well as intelligence operations.
“I support the idea of the Head of BIN, General (Ret.) Muhammad Herindra, for Indonesia to begin preparing an Anti-Espionage and Foreign Intervention Law. The world has changed rapidly. Threats to national sovereignty are becoming more diverse and are often not visible to the naked eye. Therefore, the state requires a clear, modern, and measurable legal umbrella that simultaneously guarantees democracy and civil liberties,” Bamsoet stated in a briefing on Monday (31/8/2026).
He explained that modern espionage threats have shifted into the digital realm. Information regarding government policies, defence, energy, natural resources, technology, strategic industries, population data, and critical infrastructure systems can all become targets.
Cyber attacks can even serve as entry points for foreign intelligence operations. Perpetrators may attempt to obtain credentials, map networks, steal documents, plant malware, conduct digital surveillance, or exploit system vulnerabilities to acquire strategic information over the long term. Consequently, handling these threats cannot rely solely on conventional cybercrime approaches.
“The formation of the Anti-Espionage and Foreign Intervention Law should be positioned as an effort to complement the existing legal framework, rather than merely adding new regulations. Such regulation must be able to provide clear definitions regarding espionage, foreign intervention, influence operations, agent recruitment, theft of strategic information, sensitive technology transfers, covert funding, and cyber activities conducted for the interests of foreign states. Clarity in definition is vital so that law enforcement agencies have a strong basis while preventing the rules from being used irresponsibly,” Bamsoet revealed.
Bamsoet noted that Indonesia already possesses several legal instruments related to intelligence, national security, state secrets, crimes against national security, and cybersecurity. The Government, alongside the House of Representatives (DPR), can conduct academic studies and regulatory inventories to identify existing legal gaps.
The formation of this law needs to be aligned with the State Intelligence Law, the National Criminal Code via Law Number 1 of 2023, the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE), the Personal Data Protection Law, and various regulations concerning defence, security, investment, and cybersecurity. In doing so, Indonesia will possess an interconnected legal system capable of facing national security threats without sacrificing the principles of the rule of law and democracy.
“I hope the Head of BIN’s idea is promptly realised through mature academic studies and policy drafts. The DPR will certainly play an important role in the discussions. We need to build a strong counter-intelligence system, clear inter-agency coordination, better early detection capabilities, and legal tools capable of pursuing espionage methods of the digital era. At the same time, every authority must be limited and supervised to remain within constitutional corridors,” Bamsoet concluded.