In the car with hubby on my lunch break today when the National Public Radio (NPR) announced that Indonesia’s former president, Soeharto (the Indonesian spelling) or Suharto, is not doing very good. “He’s suffering from organ failure,” they mentioned. “Oh no,” I said. “It’s that good or bad?” hubby asked. “Well, I know this may sound mean, but no, it’s not good because he’ll never be on trial,” I said. With that, the NPR announcer continued in explaining who Suharto is (or was) and what he had done in the past to be considered worthy to be on trial.
Suharto got himself the president title with a military coup d’etat in 1965. Ruling Indonesia for 35 years fiercely (anybody who opposed him or became his enemies were mysteriously disappear or ended up dead), he was also a big corruptor. His family had done too much nepotism in our country when he was in charge. Schoolchildren were fed lies about Indonesia’s history about the beginning of his dictatorship until that day he was forced to resign in 1998. He also controlled the media. If one should dare write something bad about his family (notoriously called ‘The Cendana Family’ -Cendana is the name of the street where he lives), somebody would definitely get fired. Or if the media is not big enough, it’ll get shut down.
I understand that he’s also a human being, and seeing a picture of him lying on the deathbed; pale and whatnot, it’s pretty sad. I should also say that during his ruling, things were much more peaceful compared to now. Our economy was also more stable. I can still remember those days where the exchange rate was only 2,000 rupiahs for 1 US dollar… But I was hoping to see that Suharto would be brought into trial; not only for the corruption, but also for human rights violation, especially the Trisakti tragedy which followed by the 1998 riots. They’ve been trying for 7 years, but Suharto’s health’s been keeping him away from the court.
Will it be Augusto Pinochet all over again, or would the injustice continue as Suharto’s losing his battle against his health?
lo harusnya ada di jkt kemaren, din. suasanya menegangkan sekali deh…. breaking news dimana-mana….
Wow… I bet! Gue di sini ngecek situs berita every now and then gak pengen ketinggalan berita.
It’s a pity that the government dropped the case due to his poor health.
Well, I’m gonna have to think hard about who’s to choose for the the next election.
ya… not good, really. humanity is one thing. violation of the human rights (plus corruption issues etc) is another thing. forgiving is one thing. strengthening laws is other thing. indonesians like to mix everything in one bowl. ugh.
ichi: i understand… i got very frustrated to see criminals walked away with ‘health concerns’ or ‘mental illness’ as the reasoning.
mer: it’s so hard to apply humanity for someone who was inhumane to others.
diny? knock .. knock … eh tok .. tok [kayak obelix kalo ngetok kepalanya sendiri karena mendengar komentar atau kelakuan asterix yang ajaib] … “ngecek situs berita every now and then”? walah, aku kok malah nggak ya, wekekek 😀
Indonesia has had almost 10 years to bring Suharto to trial. If they haven’t been able to do so by now, its rather unlikely that they would have ever been able to.
I think Indonesia should bring closure by moving forward instead of trying to resolve the past.
There should be a trial. Suharto’s crimes were many and horrific Just watching the documentary “ Terlena-Breaking of a Nation” about Indonesia under his dictatorial rule is enough to make one cry.
arie: i’m amazed on how intensive kompas.com is covering his updates. practically from (a-1) to (z+1).
dan: i see what you mean. but like mer mentioned, strengthening the law is crucial. putting suharto on trial would give the next ‘important politician’, if not president, an example that they’re not going to get away with corruption or any wrong-doings.
shep, i clicked on that link and very intrigued by it. wondered if it’s available at local’s library.