The ‘Listyogate’ Espionage Scandal

About a week before he was arrested in a case involving the alleged wiretapping of the President, former National Police Legal Division chief Inspector General Ahrie Sonta Nasution already felt that something was wrong. He visited several institutions seeking protection from a legal case he predicted would soon involve him.

“Basically, it was like he wanted to play the victim, you know. That was last week [the third week of October 2026],” said a detikX source familiar with the arrest of three police generals the previous week.

In those days, the source said, Ahrie was constantly on alert. He never went far without his handgun. On one occasion, while visiting an institution to complain about what he was experiencing and feared, he left the gun in his car.

He only realised it was not at his waist after meeting the head of the institution. He then abandoned his plan to discuss developments within the National Police with the official.

“He went back to the car. He looked uncomfortable, restless,” the source said.

A week later, what Ahrie had feared came to pass. On the night of Sunday, 1 November 2026, six senior National Police officers were detained at the home of a former police chief on suspicion of wiretapping President Prabowo Subianto. Three held the rank of police commissioner general and three were inspector generals; Ahrie was among them.

They were taken to the Mobile Brigade Corps (Brimob) headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, for questioning. Several people admitted to being involved. The person said to have ordered the operation was former police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

At a press conference at the National Police Criminal Investigation Department headquarters in Jakarta on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, its chief, Commissioner General Asep Safrudin, announced that three people had been named suspects in the alleged illegal wiretapping case. One was Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

At the same time, other police investigators were searching for another suspect, Inspector General Eko Hadi Santoso, a senior instructor at the National Police Education and Training Institute’s Staff and Leadership School. Eko was later arrested in an area of West Jakarta.

The following night, Asep and Deputy National Police Chief Commissioner General Wahyu Hadiningrat were said to have gone to Listyo’s home in South Jakarta to collect him. According to the source, Wahyu was involved to make the process persuasive and prevent Listyo from resisting, given their close relationship.

Listyo was released the next morning. A source at National Police headquarters told detikX that his name had briefly been removed from the suspects’ list. However, at a press conference at headquarters on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, Asep explicitly named Listyo as a suspect in the alleged wiretapping of the President.

“Maybe there was pressure. It coincided with a limited meeting at the Palace, didn’t it?” the source told detikX.

At the press conference, Asep named three generals by their initials: LSP (Listyo Sigit Prabowo), ASN (Ahrie Sonta Nasution) and EHS (Eko Hadi Santoso). They were suspects in alleged illegal wiretapping targeting the President, ministers, political figures and non-governmental organisations. Asep said the surveillance took place in 2025 and 2026.

“Some of those numbers were entered into the LIMS server, or Lawful Interception Management System, without verification,” Asep said.

Asep said the numbers were allegedly monitored without any connection to law-enforcement proceedings, whether an inquiry or an investigation, as required by law. In late October 2026, he added, one suspect asked for the files containing the results of the illegal surveillance to be deleted.

That request led to the case coming to light. A police officer who learned of the request reported it on Friday, 30 October 2026, Asep said.

“The National Police Criminal Investigation Department then carried out a series of inquiries and investigations, questioning 10 witnesses and three expert witnesses,” Asep said.

Two days later, the department named another suspect: Inspector General Slamet Uliandi, former head of the National Police Information and Communications Technology Division. The department’s Director of Cybercrime, Brigadier General Suhermanto, said Slamet had authorised both the wiretapping and the deletion of the surveillance files.

Slamet allegedly acted in his capacity as a member of the supervisory board of the Criminal Investigation Department’s Monitoring Centre. In October 2026, Ahrie Sonta reportedly asked Slamet for permission to delete files relating to the surveillance of the President.

“And suspect SU approved the deletion of the surveillance files accumulated so far,” Suhermanto said.

The four suspects face charges under Article 258 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. They have also been charged under Article 332(1) and/or (2) on illegal access, which carries a maximum sentence of six years.

Listyo, Ahrie Sonta and Eko are being held at the National Police detention centre. Slamet has not been detained because he is recovering from a stroke.

Gerindra Party deputy chairman Habiburokhman said he suspected the police generals’ motives for conducting the surveillance were not straightforward. He said a large number of people may have been targeted, including him.

“I have been told that they also illegally wiretapped the leadership of Commission III [of the House of Representatives]. This is ironic, because the National Police budget comes from Commission III,” Habiburokhman said in a text message to detikX.

Habiburokhman added that the officers may have intended to blackmail or criminalise the people they monitored for political gain. He said he had heard that they wanted to regain control of Indonesia within two years.

“We must be vigilant. It makes sense that their target is to control Indonesia, because they have substantial resources,” Habiburokhman said.

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said there were indications of an attempted coup in the alleged surveillance operation by Listyo and his associates. He said the police had obtained preliminary evidence of such an attempt.

Yusril stressed, however, that the indications required more comprehensive examination. Investigators were continuing to examine them, including the possibility of an effort to prevent the President from carrying out his state duties.

“The elements are beginning to point in that direction, but the matter is still being investigated. It would be premature to immediately classify it as an attempted coup, as that would require sufficient facts and evidence,” Yusril said last week.

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi made a similar statement. He said the police generals’ actions had gone beyond ordinary legal boundaries and could threaten national security and the country’s leadership.

“We also believe that what was done falls into a category that could be regarded as an attempted coup,” Prasetyo said.