Golkar Warns Illegal Wiretapping Case Could Make People Afraid to Speak

Golkar Party Secretary-General M Sarmuji said the alleged illegal wiretapping of several political figures without a legal basis could threaten democracy in Indonesia.

Sarmuji praised the police for promptly handling the case and naming four police generals, including former National Police chief Listyo Sigit, as suspects. The alleged surveillance also reportedly targeted President Prabowo Subianto in his capacity as head of state.

Sarmuji said that if wiretapping without lawful procedures were allowed to continue, people would become afraid to express their views and communicate openly.

“If no action is taken, people will be afraid to express themselves; they will even be afraid to communicate,” Sarmuji said after attending the 2026 National Coordination Meeting on Media and Opinion Mobilisation, as well as Golkar Party’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Seminar and Workshop, at the party’s central executive board office in Jakarta on Friday (6 November 2026).

He stressed that illegal wiretapping was a serious violation, particularly if it targeted the President, who holds the position of head of state.

Sarmuji also urged the House of Representatives (DPR RI) to begin deliberating the Wiretapping Bill. He said the legislation was needed to ensure that all wiretapping was carried out in accordance with legal procedures and requirements.

He said the bill was already on the National Legislation Programme (Prolegnas). The case now in the public spotlight, he said, could provide an opportunity for the DPR to make the bill a priority again.

“Every incident has a lesson, and one opportunity it presents is for us to review our Wiretapping Bill, so that wiretapping is genuinely carried out in accordance with the applicable procedures,” he said.

Earlier, the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Directorate named a police officer identified as SU as a new suspect in the alleged wiretapping without legal procedures, electronic data deletion and illegal access case.

The director of the agency’s Cyber Crime Directorate, Brigadier General Suhermanto, said SU served as an advisory board member of the Criminal Investigation Agency’s Monitoring Centre. He made the statement at the National Police Public Relations Division building in Jakarta on Thursday (5 November).

Investigators have not detained SU, despite naming him a suspect, because he is ill after suffering a stroke.