The Associated Press reported that 6,770 police and military personnel were assigned to secure Joko Widodo’s Nov. 5 testimony at East Jakarta District Court, quoting Jakarta police chief Alfian Nurrizal that the measure was precautionary and most personnel were on standby. The AP story was read in its SeattlePI syndication; this remains one AP report, not two independent sources. Reuters separately confirmed that President Prabowo dismissed chief of staff Listyo Sigit Prabowo after his detention in the alleged wiretapping investigation. Amnesty International Indonesia’s Nov. 4 statement records the rights group’s concern and advocacy position, not an independent finding about the allegations. The available reporting says the diploma-related defamation trial is unrelated to the wiretapping case and authorities have not linked the troop deployment to the investigation. AP’s photographs of the actual hearing were not reused because they are agency-licensed. Both published photographs are dated archive context: the Jakarta skyline (Jan. 2, 2017; Georgi Kovachev, CC BY-SA 4.0) and an Indonesian police patrol car at Merdeka Square (Dec. 2, 2016; AWG97, CC BY-SA 4.0). Display copies were proportionally resized to 1,800 × 1,013 WebP at quality 82 without cropping or content retouching; original JPEGs remain in the source assets.
A high-profile hearing draws a major security deployment
Indonesian authorities assigned 6,770 police and military personnel to secure former President Joko Widodo’s testimony at the East Jakarta District Court on Thursday, Nov. 5, the Associated Press reported. Jakarta police chief Alfian Nurrizal described the deployment as a precaution because of potential security risks and large crowds; he said most of the personnel were held on standby.
Widodo appeared as a witness in a defamation case arising from allegations that he used a false university diploma. He has denied the allegation. The trial is separate from the fast-moving investigation into alleged unauthorized wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto and other people.
The wiretapping investigation remains an allegation
Police have detained three senior officers, including Listyo Sigit Prabowo, a former national police chief who had recently become presidential chief of staff. Reuters reported that President Prabowo dismissed Listyo on Nov. 4 after his detention. Authorities allege that surveillance from 2025 to 2026 reached officials and other public figures; the available reports do not establish that every alleged target was actually monitored or that any suspect has been convicted.
Amnesty International Indonesia says the case raises broader questions about privacy and possible surveillance of journalists, political figures and civil-society groups. That is the rights organization’s assessment and call for investigation, not a judicial finding.
Officials have not tied the deployment to the probe
The scale of the force presence has unfolded as the wiretapping investigation intensifies, but chronology alone does not establish a link. The AP report says the presidential palace had not connected the Jakarta deployment to the wiretap case; police described the hearing security plan as a response to crowds and potential risks.
The distinction matters: the confirmed public account is a security operation for a high-profile court appearance, while the surveillance case remains under investigation. Public reporting reviewed for this article did not provide a court finding that Widodo was implicated in the wiretapping probe.
Sources
5 references
- Associated Press via SeattlePIThousands of troops secure Indonesia trial as tensions run high over wiretap scandalAP report, read in its SeattlePI syndication; quotes Jakarta police chief Alfian Nurrizal on the 6,770-person precautionary deployment and says the trial is unrelated to the wiretap probe. · 2026-11-05
- ReutersIndonesia president sacks chief of staff over alleged wiretapIndependent reporting on President Prabowo’s dismissal of Listyo Sigit Prabowo after detention over alleged wiretapping; describes the government’s allegation, not a court finding. · 2026-11-04
- Amnesty International IndonesiaSurveillance scandal is also about silencing opposition, group saysPrimary statement of Amnesty Indonesia’s concerns and demands; an advocacy position rather than independent verification of police allegations. · 2026-11-04
- Wikimedia CommonsJakarta skyline at sunsetPhotograph creator, date, location and CC BY-SA 4.0 licence for the lead image. · 2017-01-02
- Wikimedia CommonsIndonesian police patrol carPhotograph creator, date, location and CC BY-SA 4.0 licence for the inline image. · 2016-12-02
