JAKARTA, The Kabar News—The Golkar Party has rejected an unverified allegation linking its chairman, Bahlil Lahadalia, to the illegal wiretapping investigation involving President Prabowo Subianto.

Golkar Secretary-General Muhammad Sarmuji said the claim circulating on social media lacked a verifiable source. He made the statement at the party’s headquarters in West Jakarta on Friday, Nov. 6.

“Something that cannot be confirmed should actually be ignored,” Sarmuji said.

The rumor emerged after intelligence analyst Sri Radjasa Chandra claimed in an online interview that information from the surveillance case indicated the possible involvement of a chairman of a major parliamentary party. He did not publicly name Bahlil or present independently verifiable evidence supporting the allegation.

Social media users subsequently connected the claim to Bahlil, who serves as Golkar chairman and energy and mineral resources minister. However, police have not publicly identified him as a suspect or announced evidence linking him to the alleged operation.

Sarmuji urged the public not to treat speculation as an established fact. He recalled a previous online allegation involving the chairman of a major political party that commentators had presented as reliable information.

“Even on a podcast, a legal expert said, ‘This is A1! A1,’ as if the information had been fully verified,” Sarmuji said.

He said the earlier allegation prompted speculation against Golkar but later proved unrelated to the party. Sarmuji used the case to show how vague descriptions can encourage social media users to accuse public figures without sufficient evidence.

“Things like this should simply be skipped because they are unconfirmed and their truth cannot be verified,” he said.

The denial comes as the National Police expand their investigation into alleged unlawful surveillance conducted between 2025 and 2026. Investigators have named four senior or former police officers as suspects, identified by the initials LSP, AS, EH and SU.

Police allege that the suspects placed telephone numbers belonging to Prabowo and other notable individuals into a lawful-interception system without the required authorization or connection to a criminal investigation. The alleged targets included state officials, political figures, journalists, civil-society representatives and businesspeople.

Investigators say SU authorized interception requests and approved the deletion of surveillance records in October 2026. Police have not detained the fourth suspect because he is reportedly receiving medical treatment after a stroke.

Authorities are still examining the operation’s purpose and whether other parties participated. Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said investigators were exploring indications that could point toward treason but stressed that such a conclusion would be premature without sufficient evidence. The current charges concern illegal interception, unauthorized access and the deletion of electronic data.

Until investigators disclose evidence to the contrary, claims implicating Bahlil remain unverified allegations rather than established findings. All suspects in the underlying case retain the presumption of innocence.