Police say they have enough initial evidence to pursue treason charges against four suspects in a case involving the wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto, as lawmakers urged detectives to uncover who ordered the bugging.
Former police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who is not related to the president, and three other senior police officials were arrested last week over accusations of unauthorised monitoring of phones belonging to Prabowo, government officials, activists and journalists.
The case has exposed political tensions in Indonesia between Prabowo and his popular predecessor Joko Widodo, to whom Listyo was widely seen as a close aide. Listyo in October was reassigned from his job as the nation’s police chief to Prabowo’s chief of staff before he was sacked following the arrest.
“We have found ... enough early evidence to create a police report regarding the crime of treason,” the national police’s top criminal investigator Asep Safrudin told reporters after attending a hearing with parliament’s legal affairs commission.
He did not provide details about the evidence but said “intensive” investigations will be done. Treason charges carry the death penalty in Indonesia.
Reuters was unable to contact Listyo, the other officers, or their legal representatives.
Police have questioned 38 witnesses, including those working for telecommunication providers and the vendor involved in the wiretapping operations, they said. — Reuters
