US EditionIndonesia Names Former President Suharto a 'National Hero'
Suharto was honored for his role in Indonesia’s economic growth and independence struggle despite rights groups citing up to 1 million killed under his regime, critics said.
- During National Heroes Day ceremonies at the State Palace, President Prabowo Subianto conferred national hero status on former President Suharto, one of 10 honorees.
- The president's spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi said 49 nominees were submitted late on Sunday, with Culture Minister Fadli Zon asserting all met the criteria.
- Historians say about 300,000 people were killed during the 1965-66 purge, while around 500 civil society members, activists and academics urged a veto, and protesters near the presidential palace numbered around 100.
- The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation called the decision `unethical, destructive to law and human rights`, and protesters carried slogans like `Stop the Whitewashing` during planned demonstrations.
- Observers say the decision reflects a wider official revisionism that recasts the New Order period as stable and labels Suharto `bapak pembangunan`, while Prabowo Subianto's administration authorises school history textbooks rewrites and the military's increased role since October 2024 fuels reformasi rollback concerns.
133 Articles
133 Articles
For more than 20 years Suharto led Indonesia authoritarianly. Now he has been declared a national hero by President Prabowo. Critics see mass murders trivialized and a conflict of interest.
Indonesia’s divisive former leader named national hero
Indonesia’s president named the country’s late former ruler — whose time in power was characterized by corruption, rights abuses, and economic growth — a national hero. Suharto, who is also the current leader’s father-in-law, came to power following brutal bloodletting in 1965 in which at least half a million people alleged to be communists were killed, and critics point to widespread reports of torture and forced disappearances through to his o…
Ex-President Suharto, accused of participating in mass murders, is now a "hero of the nation." Today's president, who was once his son-in-law, explained him.
Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has officially appointed the former dictator Suharto, who died in 2008, one of ten new national heroes.
Indonesia posthumously awarded former President Suharto the title of national hero. His legacy is controversial. He was the country's dictator for over thirty years and, as a general, was responsible for the mass murder of communists in 1965 and 1966. According to some estimates, half a million people were killed in those massacres.
Indonesia celebrates the former dictator Suharto as a national hero - despite allegations of mass murder, torture and corruption. Human rights activists are outraged.
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