SUHARTO AFTER HIS RESIGNATION: TRIALS, DEATH, LEGACY, VIEWS, FAMILY

SUHARTO AFTER HIS RESIGNATION

Suharto After his resignation

After Suharto resigned he moved into a house in the swank Jakarta suburb of Menteng. He began his day with a mandi, prayers to Mecca and a breakfast or rice porridge, orange juice and tea and spent much of his day repeating Muslim prayers, caring for his pet birds—one of whom could whistle the Indonesian national anthem—watching Indonesia sitcoms and nature shows on the Discovery and Animal Plant channels, and meeting with family members. He smiled a lot but didn't say much. His doctors told him to avoid reading newspapers and magazines. Suharto wore a sarong and a polo shirt around he house and put on trousers and a Batik shirt when visitors came. He did stretching exercises on his terrace and occasionally practiced his golf swing in his bedroom. He favored simple Javanese food: steamed bananas, rice crackers, noodles in soy sauce, salted eggs and rice.

The 50,000 rupiah banknote with Suharto's portrait were taken out circulation and replaced with 50,000 banknotes with a portrait of Wage Rudolf Supratman, the composer of the Indonesian national anthem. The homes and Suharto and his family were surrounded around the clock by lines of heavily armed troops. Protestors sometimes gathered outside of Suharto's home ant shouted slogans like "Hang Suharto!"

Kerry Brown wrote in the Asian Review of Books, ““In 1998, Suharto seemed “eerily unconcerned” during a television speech “as the students and then other sections of society took to the streets, appalled by the near-complete wipe-out of the Indonesian economy as a result of the economic crisis blazing through Asia. Just as his ascent to power in the 1960s had been bloody, so was his exit—though this time, the violence was limited and came not from the army, who had so loyally supported him almost to the end, but from vigilantes and looters who targeted, among others, the wealthy ethnic Chinese. The demise of the ‘mystic’ ruler (Suharto was increasingly interested in Islamic mysticism in the later stage of his rule, and apparently imputed his downfall to ‘Zionist’ elements) was, however, mercifully swift—and by 1999, in a further paradoxical twist of Indonesian history, Suharto’s deputy Habibie was passing some of the most radical legislation in Indonesian history, reengaging with the disaffectations of regions like Aceh and Papua, and trying to resolve the perennial problem of East Timor, at the time a ‘Special Region’ of Indonesia. . [Source: Kerry Brown, Asian Review of Books, May 4, 2005]

Suharto’s Legal and Health Problems After His Resignation

Suharto leaving hospital, 2005

After Suharto resigned, he and his children were investigated for corruption and their control of agricultural monopolies. Although there were discussions about granting the family clemency in exchange for returning much of their wealth—possibly as much as $25 billion—no such deal was finalized. President Abdurrahman Wahid pursued negotiations rather than court action, but Suharto never surrendered the funds. [Sources: Time, Huffington Post, May 17, 2009]

Suharto’s health rapidly declined after leaving office. He suffered multiple strokes, intestinal bleeding, and was reported to have dementia and memory loss. Fearing arrest for human-rights crimes after Chile’s Pinochet was detained abroad, Suharto avoided overseas medical treatment and was banned from leaving Jakarta in 2000, later being placed under house arrest. Despite his frailty, he voted in the 2004 election but was repeatedly hospitalized in subsequent years with severe internal bleeding and organ complications.

In 2009, Indonesia’s Supreme Court definitively cleared Time magazine of defamation charges brought by Suharto over a 1999 cover story alleging his family amassed billions during his rule. The ruling, which ended years of legal battles and overturned a prior decision against the magazine, was widely hailed as a landmark victory for press freedom in Indonesia.

Suharto's Trial

In August 2000, Suharto was formally charged with corruption for skimming tax revenues and diverting hundreds of millions of dollars from charitable foundations he controlled into businesses run by his children. His trial was repeatedly disrupted by security threats, including bombings, and Suharto consistently failed to appear in court, citing poor health. His lawyers argued that he was mentally unfit to stand trial, a claim that sparked public outrage and student protests. [Source: Associated Press, July 9, 2007; [Source: Heda Bayron, VOA News, May 2006]

In October 2000, courts ruled Suharto medically unfit for trial, effectively halting the case. Criminal proceedings were formally dropped in 2006 due to his deteriorating health, a decision widely criticized by anti-corruption activists as undermining justice and accountability.

Prosecutors later pursued civil action instead. In 2007, they filed a lawsuit seeking more than $1.5 billion in damages and the return of state funds allegedly channeled through Suharto’s Supersemar charity foundation. In 2009, an Indonesian court acquitted Suharto personally but found his foundation guilty of graft, ordering it to repay over $100 million to the government. The ruling stopped short of holding Suharto or his family legally responsible, despite allegations that the funds were misused during his decades in power.

Suharto Dies at Age 86 in 2008

Suharto's funeral

Suharto died of multiple organ failure in a Jakarta hospital, with his six children at his bedside, in January 2008. Ian MacKinnon wrote in The Guardian, “The 86-year-old former general was taken to hospital in a critical condition three weeks earlier with heart, lung and kidney problems. His eldest daughter, Siti Hariyanti "Tutut" Rukama, broke down in tears as she spoke outside the hospital. "Father has returned to God," she said. "We ask that if he had any faults, please forgive them ... may he be absolved of all his mistakes." [Source: Ian MacKinnon, The Guardian, January 28, 2008 |::|]

“Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, broke the news in a televised address to the nation, which is to observe a week of mourning after the funeral today in the royal city of Solo, central Java. "I invite all the people of Indonesia to pray that may the deceased's good deeds and dedication to the nation be accepted by Allah the almighty," he said. "Suharto has done a great service to the nation." |::|

“The president and his deputy, Yusuf Kalla, paid their respects, kneeling before Suharto's body shrouded in white at his home in Jakarta. Hundreds of Indonesians crowded the streets outside, weeping and chanting verses from the Qur'an. The former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew, and Malaysia's former leader, Mahathir Mohamad, flew to the capital, paying tribute to his part in bringing stability and economic growth.” Suharto was buried in the family mausoleum near the royal city of Solo next to his wife Tien who was a member of the Solo royal family.

As Suharto was dying, Seth Mydans wrote in The New York Times, “Now in Jakarta, the mood seems to be one of forgiveness and amnesia. A parade of politicians, religious figures, pop stars and three foreign leaders has paid hushed visits to his bedside as if he were already lying in state. A number of public figures have joined a call for an end to investigations and prosecutions against him, describing them as unseemly.” [Source: Seth Mydans, The New York Times Friday, January 18, 2008 \^/]

Troubles for Suharto’s Family After His Resignation

Several members of Suharto’s family saw their business and political fortunes decline after his fall from power. His second son, Bambang Trihatmodjo, was forced to resign as president and director of Bimantara Citra, one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates. His eldest daughter, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana (known as Tutut), lost her major energy project, while his youngest son, Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra, was stripped of his lucrative clove monopoly and special tax privileges tied to the Timor national car project. [Source: AFP, March 14, 2008; Jonathan Thatcher, The Guardian, April 2, 2014]

Suharto at his trial

Tutut later attempted a political comeback, running as the presidential candidate of the PKPB party in the 2003 election. Earlier, she had been named a suspect in a corruption investigation involving a pipeline project for the state oil company Pertamina, but failed to appear for questioning, citing ill health. Notably, the only close associate of Suharto to be convicted of corruption was his longtime friend and golfing partner, Mohamed “Bob” Hasan, who was sentenced to two years in prison.

In March 2008, Suharto’s half-brother, Probosutedjo, was released from prison after serving two-thirds of a four-year sentence for corruption. He had been jailed in 2005 for siphoning off more than 100 billion rupiah in public funds from a forestry mapping project. After his release, Probosutedjo helped establish a museum near Yogyakarta at the site of Suharto’s modest birthplace, featuring images of the former president as both a military leader and a devout Muslim.

As of the the mid-2020s, family members of Suharto’s family were active in politics or visible in Indonesian public life. His second daughter Titiek Suharto emerged as the most successful politically, serving as a Gerindra Party legislator, winning re-election in 2024, and chairing a key parliamentary commission. Other siblings have sought or maintained influence with mixed results: Tommy attempted a political comeback by founding the Berkarya Party but failed to win seats in 2019, while Tutut Suharto has stayed in the public eye through business and charity work.

Tommy Suharto on the Run, Murder and Forced to Pay $134 Million

Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of former president Suharto, was put on trial in 2000 over a corrupt land swap involving Indonesia’s food agency, Bulog, and questionable dealings linked to the national car project he controlled. He admitted guilt in the land case and was sentenced in September 2000 to 18 months in prison, becoming the only member of the Suharto family convicted of a crime at that time. [Source: Reuters, May 6, 2008 ]

Instead of serving his sentence, Tommy went into hiding for more than a year, embarrassing the government and fueling allegations of bribery and protection by powerful military figures loyal to his father. During his time on the run, the judge who convicted him was assassinated, and the case against Tommy was temporarily overturned. He was finally captured in November 2001.

In 2002, Tommy was convicted of ordering the murder of the judge who had sentenced him, as well as illegal weapons possession and fleeing justice. The court ruled that he paid hired gunmen to carry out the killing in 2001. He received a 15-year prison sentence, though many Indonesians believed the punishment was too lenient. Despite the gravity of the crime, Tommy was released on conditional parole in 2006 after serving only five years.

Beyond the murder case, Tommy faced further investigations and lawsuits, including civil claims over massive losses tied to his failed national car project and additional land deals. He was also questioned in connection with bombings, pro-Suharto rallies, and alleged links to separatist groups, underscoring his role as one of the most controversial figures of Indonesia’s post–New Order era.

In 2008, Indonesia seized $134 million from a firm linked to Tommy. The finance ministry ordered Bank Mandiri to hand over 1.23 trillion rupiah ($134 million) belonging to Tommy’s defunct car company Timor Putra Nasional, The Jakarta Post daily reported. The move comes amid a protracted legal battle over alleged graft involving the car company, which was granted exclusive rights during Suharto's reign to import South Korean cars and rebadge them as Indonesia's national car. [Source: Agence France Presse, August 30 2008]

Suharto's Legacy

Suharto’s legacy is deeply ambivalent. During more than three decades in power, his authoritarian “New Order” regime was defined by pervasive corruption, cronyism, and serious human rights abuses. Yet it also brought political stability, presided over an oil-fueled economic boom in the 1970s, reduced poverty, achieved rice self-sufficiency, and is remembered by many Indonesians as a period when basic necessities were affordable. [Sources: Aubrey Belford, AFP, January 14, 2008; William H. Frederick, Library of Congress, 2009; Jakarta Post, May 23, 2005]

Economically, Suharto combined pro-Western market policies with entrenched cronyism. This system ultimately proved fragile, collapsing during the Asian financial crisis and exposing how corruption at the highest levels left Indonesia unable to manage economic shocks. Politically, his long dominance stifled leadership renewal, leaving a post-Suharto elite short on new ideas to tackle poverty and unemployment.

Some pillars of Suharto’s rule have since been dismantled or weakened: power has been decentralized away from Jakarta, the Aceh conflict has eased, East Timor gained independence, and the military has partially retreated from formal politics. However, Suharto-era structures persist, especially within the military and patronage networks, contributing to ongoing violence, impunity, and corruption. His vast web of collusion and nepotism remains difficult to unravel, and efforts to prosecute major figures linked to the regime have largely failed.

Culturally, Suharto left a distinct imprint through his Javanese style, syncretic religious outlook, and promotion of a broad, non-sectarian interpretation of belief in God. After his fall, more orthodox Islamic piety rose, but mysticism and myths surrounding Suharto himself continue to resonate.

In historical terms, Suharto stands alongside Sukarno as one of Indonesia’s two dominant leaders. Unlike Sukarno’s emotionally charged rule, Suharto was respected for effectiveness but resented for repression. Despite evidence of grave abuses—from mass killings to East Timor—he was never held legally accountable, and his family and associates largely retained their wealth and influence.

Finally, some scholars argue that the New Order paradoxically helped prepare Indonesia for its post-1998 democratic transition. Regular, if heavily manipulated, elections familiarized Indonesians with electoral processes, while state efforts to impose Pancasila ideology often bred cynicism rather than compliance, preserving space for independent thought. This continuity helps explain Indonesia’s relatively smooth shift to competitive elections after Suharto’s fall and the later revival of Pancasila as a unifying national creed.

Views on Suharto After His Death

As Suharto lay dying in 2008, debate over his legacy intensified. Many of his victims, such as the family of Gilang, a young activist murdered during the turmoil of Suharto’s fall, demanded justice, arguing that forgiveness was impossible without a trial. Human rights advocates and figures like former president Abdurrahman Wahid insisted that Suharto’s vast crimes—mass killings, disappearances, and corruption—could not be excused and that no one should be above the law. Yet Suharto died without ever being tried, protected by his wealth, influence, and political allies. [Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times Friday, January 18, 2008; Library of Congress]

At the same time, a contrasting public mood emerged that emphasized Suharto’s contributions to stability and development, with some Indonesians viewing his abuses as an inevitable part of power. This divide reflected a broader struggle in Indonesian society between calls for accountability and a tendency toward pragmatic acceptance or nostalgia. Survivors of repression, including victims of the 1965–66 anti-communist purges, strongly rejected any rehabilitation of Suharto’s image.

In the years after his death, Indonesians began reassessing the Suharto era more selectively. Elements once associated with repression, such as Pancasila ideology and book banning, resurfaced in moderated forms, often framed as cultural or educational initiatives rather than rigid indoctrination. Legal reforms also limited the state’s power to ban books, reflecting a partial break from New Order practices. Perhaps most striking was the growing public ambivalence toward Suharto himself. Opinion polls showed rising respect for his leadership, and in 2011 he was even nominated—controversially—as a national hero, sparking fierce debate. While most Indonesians supported democracy and did not want a return to authoritarian rule, many expressed nostalgia for perceived stability under Suharto. Anti-corruption activists warned that such romanticization ignored the regime’s deep corruption and abuses, and risked allowing Suharto’s family and networks to reassert influence without accountability.

The General Suharto Memorial Museum in Kemusuk, Indonesia, celebrates the former dictator as a kindly father and heroic nation builder. According to the New York Times: Housed in an imposing walled compound in Suharto’s hometown, Kemusuk, a short drive outside the city of Yogyakarta, the museum opened in 2013. It was built by Suharto’s younger half brother, Probosutedjo, who grew wealthy under his sibling’s rule, but in 2003 was tried and convicted of corruption. He was sentenced to four years in jail and ordered to pay back $10 million to the Indonesian state. [Source: Sebastian Strangio, New York Times, August 13, 2017]

Dioramas and panels focus on Suharto’s roles in the independence struggle against the Dutch and in prying the region of Papua from colonial rule in the early 1960s. Video screens show footage of the dictator giving speeches and greeting foreign leaders, including Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. “A large section of the museum is given over to displays justifying crackdowns that occurred under Suharto. Illuminated panels show gory photos of the bodies of the six executed generals, next to a life-size photo of Suharto wearing military fatigues and sunglasses. A souvenir shop near the museum has T-shirts featuring an image of Suharto smiling, above these words: “How are you doing, bro? It was better in my time, right?”

Efforts By Suharto-Era Victims to Seek Truth and Justice

In 2012, Amnesty International reported: “In Indonesia victims of serious human rights violations, including unlawful killings, rape and other crimes of sexual violence, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment continue to call for truth, justice and reparation for past crimes. In 2004, the Indonesian Parliament passed the Law on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which provided for the establishment of a national truth commission with powers to receive complaints, investigate grave human rights violations which occurred in the past and to make recommendations for compensation and/or rehabilitation for victims. In 2006 the Indonesian Constitutional Court struck down the law, after it ruled that an article which provided reparation for victims only after they agreed to an amnesty for the perpetrator was unconstitutional. Attempts to pass a new law and enact a national truth commission have stalled. Although a new law has been drafted and is scheduled for discussion in Parliament in 2011-2014;

The efforts of survivors of the 1968 Rat Hole massacre in Lorejo include a symbolic class-action lawsuit demanding reparations and an official apology, attempts by a Muslim youth organization involved in the violence to reconcile with victims’ families, and initiatives by researchers and historians to locate mass graves and record survivor testimonies before they are lost. [Source: Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post Foreign Service, October 30, 2005; Amnesty International, March 25, 2012]

These efforts face strong resistance. Militant groups have threatened violence, local military and government officials have obstructed investigations, and even survivors’ families have sometimes silenced them out of fear or shame. Despite this, individuals such as former political prisoners and victims’ relatives have begun speaking publicly, often encouraged by younger family members.

The trauma of the massacre remains deeply personal and unresolved. Victims and survivors continue to suffer lasting psychological scars, while even some perpetrators say they are haunted by what they were forced to do. In 2002, researchers confirmed the Rat Hole as a mass grave by uncovering human remains despite intimidation. It was the first of dozens of mass graves identified on Java.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, NBC News, Fox News and various books and other publications.

Last updated December 2025