Indonesia names fourth senior police officer as wiretapping suspect amid deepening political rifts

JAKARTA – Indonesian police have named a fourth senior officer as a suspect in the alleged wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto, as the authorities continue to investigate the motives behind a scandal that has exposed a deepening rift between the President and his predecessor, Joko Widodo.The case has piled more pressure on Prabowo, with public discontent growing over his costly populist policies and weakening investor confidence in Indonesia’s US$1.5 trillion (S$1.9 trillion) economy.At a press conference late on Nov 5, police named a senior law enforcement official with the initials SU as the new suspect, and said he served as monitoring chief at Indonesia’s Criminal Investigation Agency between 2010 and 2019.Local media later identified him as Slamet Uliandi.Investigators alleged that SU, who was the head of the investigation agency’s information and technology unit from 2021 to 2026, gave the go-ahead for the wiretapping, said cyber crime unit director Suhermanto at the press conference.“When the other two suspects were about to wiretap, they got approval from SU. They also asked his approval before deleting interception records,” Suhermanto said, adding that SU had not yet been detained due to a health condition.Three senior police officers had already been arrested on Nov 3, including the former national police chief and Prabowo’s chief of staff, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who is widely known as a Widodo loyalist.Police are still investigating the motives behind the attempts to intercept Prabowo’s communications, and have so far questioned 13 police officers and five criminal and IT experts.The national police chief has also formed a special team to investigate the case, spokesman Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko said.Jakarta remained calm on Nov 5 and 6 despite the deployment of thousands of troops in the wake of the wiretapping revelations.Military tents and buses were seen in the capital, as well as a small number of soldiers.Lawmakers are also considering a probe into the eligibility of Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Widoko’s son, in what could be the first step towards removing him from office. REUTERS