Ahmad Pathoni, Solo – About 30 Indonesian protesters performed a traditional mask dance in the royal city of Solo on Tuesday to demand that former president Suharto, who is critically ill in a Jakarta hospital, be brought to justice.
"Bring Suharto to court before he dies," read one of the posters carried by the protesters as they played traditional Javanese drums and gongs outside the prosecutors' office in Solo in central Java.
"How come there's no justice for my son and other people who were missing or killed by the Suharto regime?" asked Budiati Al Fatah, who said her activist son, Gilang Nugroho, was murdered in the last days of Suharto's rule.
Ever since Suharto was admitted to a Jakarta hospital on Jan. 4, Indonesians have debated the former president's legacy and whether to continue legal proceedings against him for graft.
Some see him as a corrupt dictator who should be held accountable for his actions, including the death of up to half a million Indonesians in an anti-communist purge in 1965-66.
But others remember his era more nostalgically and say he should be appreciated for steering Indonesia's development and for turning it into one of Asia's tiger economies.
"Suharto must be tried for his alleged crimes, even in absentia. He is responsible for alleged genocide against some 500,000 Indonesians between 1965 and 1975," wrote Ludi from West Kalimantan in an SMS to the Jakarta Post newspaper.
Suharto's more than 30 years of authoritarian rule are associated with widespread human rights violations, especially in the troubled provinces of Papua and Aceh, as well as in East Timor which Indonesia invaded in 1975.
Angry letters
The former general, now 86, came to power after an abortive coup on Sept. 30, 1965, that was officially blamed on the communist party.
Suharto himself was charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds after he quit office, but the government later dropped the case due to his poor health. He and his family deny any wrongdoing. Transparency International put Suharto's assets at $15-$35 billion, or as much as 1.3 percent of gross domestic product.
The letters column of the Jakarta Post has been filled with angry letters from people saying the former ruler should be tried.
"The public, like me, have wondered all along how these faults can be concealed so nicely and how he is still free today despite all the wrong and the sufferings countless people have endured," wrote Khristianto from Central Java.
'Is he really innocent?'
Suharto was forced to resign in 1998 in the face of a tumultuous pro-democracy movement and economic crisis. While his political influence has faded since then, he and his family remain powerful and retain close ties to the military. Attempts by subsequent governments to prosecute Suharto for graft have failed.
Despite Suharto's humiliating overthrow in 1998 and the subsequent attempts to prosecute him for corruption, Southeast Asian leaders such Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and members of Indonesia's elite have flocked to his bedside to pay their respects, a mark of his lingering influence.
And many ordinary Indonesians look back on the Suharto era with nostalgia, saying life was better during his presidency when fuel and food were heavily subsidised.
"Pak Harto did well as president. But there were also weaknesses. Wealth was not distributed fairly. But the economy was better at that time. There were more jobs then," said Tomin, a 40-year-old worker at the Surakarta palace, as he sat eating lunch at a roadside stall.
"And when he was president we did not have troubles. Now it seems we have too much freedom. It's already got out of hand. Let's pray that he will get well soon."