Doctored photo fuels false claim Indonesian president 'sacked police chief'

Published on February 3, 2025 at 09:14
3 min read
By Felix NATHANIEL, AFP Indonesia

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has not fired the head of the national police, as claimed by social media posts viewed tens of thousands of times. The false rumour made the rounds as police in West Java province faced backlash for reportedly refusing to assist a man who was later shot dead. An image shared online was in fact altered from a photo of police boss Listyo Sigit's inauguration in 2021, before Prabowo took office.

"Exposed! Prabowo fires Police Chief Listyo on the spot! Too many rogue officers! Not protecting the public," reads Indonesian text on an image posted on January 6 on the SnackVideo app.

The image, which was viewed more than 84,000 times, appears to show Prabowo looking on as Listyo signs a document on a table between them.

The post surfaced after police in Cinangka in Indonesia's West Java province faced criticism for allegedly failing to assist a man who was killed in January after contacting them for help (archived here).

The car rental business owner reportedly sought police assistance after he had a gun pulled on him by assailants who failed to return one of his vehicles.

Police reportedly told the man the gun was likely fake and declined to help, before he was shot dead by the perpetrators (archived link).

Regional police launched a probe into the handling of the case, while the Cinangka police chief was transferred (archived link).

Screenshot of the false SnackVideo post, captured on January 30, 2025

The false claim that Prabowo sacked Listyo made the rounds on SnackVideo and TikTok, prompting a flurry of comments from outraged social media users.

"The public fully agrees that the police chief should be fired because he can't manage his subordinates, he's too soft," one wrote.

However, there have been no official reports of the police chief being fired, as of February 3.

Indonesian national police spokesman Erdi Chaniago confirmed that day Listyo still held his title.

"If there are any changes, we will definitely inform to the media," he told AFP.

The 55-year old remains listed as head of the force on the police's website and has attended functions since false rumours of his dismissal emerged, including speaking at a joint police-armed forces meeting on January 30 (archived here and here).

Inauguration photo

Meanwhile, a reverse image search on Google of the picture shared online found it was misleadingly edited.

The original photo published by Indonesia's Cabinet Secretariat on January 27, 2021 in fact shows Listyo standing by then-Indonesian president Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi -- not Prabowo (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of image used in the false posts (left) and the photo from January 2021 (right), with differences highlighted by AFP

The photo caption reads: "Police general Listyo Sigit Prabowo, witnessed by President Jokowi, signs the inauguration document at the State Palace in Jakarta, Wednesday (27/01/2021) morning."

The image was published in a report that day about the chief's approach to policing by state news agency Antara (archived link).

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