For decades, he was a feared US-backed dictator whose regime oversaw bloody Cold War-era massacres, accused of diverting huge amounts of state money to propel his family into luxury and political power.
On Monday, he was posthumously named a national hero of Indonesia – prompting protests from human rights groups and victims who decried the award as whitewashing a repressive regime that left hundreds of thousands dead, according to historians.
Former President Suharto was granted the title in a ceremony by Indonesia’s current leader, Prabowo Subianto – Suharto’s former son-in-law, himself a divisive figure as a former general who faced his own allegations of human rights abuses while in uniform.
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