Overview
- President Prabowo Subianto formally added Suharto to a list of ten posthumous national heroes during a televised ceremony at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
- Activists protested outside the Cultural Ministry in Jakarta as human rights organizations condemned the designation.
- The Setara Institute argues the honor violates Indonesia’s law on state awards, which it says requires strict moral and legal qualifications.
- Critics point to allegations that Suharto oversaw mass killings, torture and large-scale corruption from 1967 to 1998, noting he died in 2008 without accountability.
- Other honorees included former president Abdurrahman Wahid and labor activist Marsinah, a juxtaposition opponents describe as contradictory.