Introducing Lieutenant General Robi Herbawan, Prabowo's Former Aide Who Becomes Head of TNI's BAIS

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Head of the Ministry of Defence’s Intelligence Information and Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General TNI Robi Herbawan, has been assigned a new role as the Head of the Indonesian National Armed Forces’ Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS TNI).

This information was confirmed by the Head of Information at the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General TNI Rico Ricardo Sirait.

“It is true, Lieutenant General TNI Robi Herbawan has now been entrusted with the position of Head of BAIS TNI. Previously, he served as the Head of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia’s Intelligence Information and Communication Agency,” said Rico to Kompas.com on Thursday (7/5/2026).

According to Kompas.com, Robi once served as an aide to President Prabowo Subianto when Prabowo was the Commanding General of Kopassus from December 1995 to March 1998.

In addition to being known as Prabowo’s former aide, Robi also served in Kopassus for 12 years in the Counter-Terrorism Unit (Sat Gultor)-81.

After extensive experience in the world of strategic intelligence, Robi was trusted to become the Commander of the BAIS Task Force in Aceh from 2016 to 2018.

During Prabowo’s time as Minister of Defence, Robi became one of the providers of defence strategy information.

Lieutenant General Yudi Abrimantyo resigned from his position as Head of the Strategic Intelligence Agency (Kabais) TNI.

This occurred after four BAIS TNI members were involved in the case of the assault on Deputy Coordinator of KontraS Andrie Yunus.

At that time, the Head of the TNI’s Information Centre (Kapuspen) TNI Major General Aulia Dwi Nasrullah, during a press conference at TNI Headquarters in Cilangkap on Wednesday (25/3/2026), did not clearly explain whether Yudi resigned or was dismissed.

“As a form of accountability, today the handover of the Kabais position has been carried out,” said Aulia on Wednesday night (25/3/2026).