Budi Gunawan

Budi Gunawan (born 11 December 1959) is an Indonesian police and intelligence figure who served as the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs from 2024 until his resignation in 2025. Budi Gunawan also serves as Chairman of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) and Chairman of the Indonesian e-Sports Executive Board (PB ESI). Before leading the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, he was known as the Chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) in the era of President Joko Widodo. He is the second police element after Sutanto to lead BIN and the first police element to lead the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs.

Career Graduating from the Indonesian National Police Academy in 1983, Gunawan completed the Sespimpol (1988) and Lemhannas (2005) programs. He also earned a Summa Cum Laude distinction in the law doctoral program at Trisakti University (2018).

In the Indonesian National Police, Gunawan has been Chief of the Bali Police, Head of the National Police Education Institute, and Deputy Chief of Police.

In 2015, he was controversially named as the sole candidate for National Police Chief to replace retiring General Sutarman. Media reports noted his bank accounts contained hundreds of billions of rupiah, from many suspicious transactions, which became the investigation target by anti-corruption body (KPK) and he was named a corruption suspect. He filed a pre-trial motion, which was accepted.

In January 2026, judge Sarpin Rizaldi from the South Jakarta District Court granted his pre-trial motion, ruling that the corruption agency’s designation of him as a suspect was invalid due to lack of authority and procedural irregularities in the investigation. It was widely criticized by legal experts and activists for stretching the scope of pre-trial proceedings beyond what the law allowed, since determining the validity of a suspect designation was traditionally not within pre-trial authority. Eventually, Badrodin Haiti was appointed acting National Police chief in his place.

Appointed as Chief of BIN on 9 September 2016, Gunawan has focused on modernizing the agency. Additionally, he formed the Medical Intelligence division, "Wangsa Avatara," to address biosecurity threats.

Gunawan has invested in education for intelligence professionals, developing the State Intelligence College (STIN) and the Pusdiklat training center. In 2018, he was appointed as a professor at STIN.

Gunawan became the catalyst for development of Nusantara Student Dormitory (Indonesian: Asrama Mahasiswa Nusantara, AMN) and the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH).

In 2020, Gunawan was appointed General Chairman of the Indonesian E-Sports Executive Board. Eventually, after a special fit and proper test on 16 October 2024, Herindra confirmed as the replacement of Gunawan on 17 October 2024 and inaugurated on 21 October 2024. Following the August 2025 Indonesian protests, Gunawan was dismissed as security minister by Prabowo on 8 September.

Publications

Colonies of Justice (Forum Media Utama, 2006) Terrorism: Myths and Conspiracies (Forum Media Utama, 2006) Building Police Competence (Yayasan Pengembangan Kajian Ilmu Kepolisian, 2006) Tips for Future Police Success (Personal Development Training, 2007) Lies in Cyberspace (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2018) Democracy in the Post Truth Era (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2021) Social Media Between Two Poles (Rayyana Komunikasindo, 2021) Power of Cyber (Rayyana Komunikasindo, 2022) Forming Mind War Man (Rayyana Komunikasindo, 2022)

Commendations

Honors

1st row Star of Mahaputera, 2nd Class (Bintang Mahaputera Adipradana) (2020) National Police Meritorious Service Star, 1st Class (Bintang Bhayangkara Utama) National Police Meritorious Service Star, 2nd Class (Bintang Bhayangkara Pratama) National Police Meritorious Service Star, 3rd Class (Bintang Bhayangkara Nararya) 2nd row Honorary Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (P.S.M.) – Malaysia (2022) Satyalancana Pengabdian 32 Tahun (32 years of service) Satyalancana Pengabdian 24 Tahun (24 years of service) Satyalancana Pengabdian 16 Tahun (16 years of service) 3rd row Satyalancana Pengabdian 8 Tahun Satyalancana Jana Utama (Ulangan I) Satyalancana Ksatria Bhayangkara Satyalancana Karya Bhakti (Ulangan I) 4th row Satyalancana Dwidya Sistha Satyalancana Bhakti Pendidikan Satyalancana Bhakti Buana Satyalancana Bhakti Nusa 5th row Satyalancana Dharma Nusa Satyalancana Bhakti Purna Satyalancana Operasi Kepolisian Satyalancana G.O.M VII 6th row Satyalancana G.O.M IX Satyalancana Wira Siaga Satyalancana Kebhaktian Sosial Satyalancana Wira Karya

Brevet

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