Soeharto glued to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"

Soeharto glued to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"

Agence France-Presse, Jakarta

The country's former president Soeharto, accused of amassing billions of dollars during his rule, rarely misses an episode of television quiz "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", a report said on Wednesday.

"Grandfather often watches 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire', that is his favorite show," the Detikcom online news service quoted one of Soeharto's granddaughters, Gendis Siti Hatmanti as saying.

Since his resignation amid mounting public protests in 1998, Soeharto, 84, has lived in seclusion at his private residence in a posh residential area of Central Jakarta, making only rare appearances.

Hatmanti, the daughter of Soeharto's second eldest son Bambang Trihatmojo, speaking while distributing alms at a mosque here, said that her grandfather rarely missed the program aired every Saturday evening.

The program, aired by a private television channel, offers a top prize of Rp 1 billion (just over US$100,000).

Soeharto has suffered two strokes, which according to his doctors left him brain-damaged, an argument that has so far prevented him from standing trial for corruption during his 32- year rule that ended with massive public unrest in 1998.

Soeharto escaped trial after his lawyers offered medical evidence that he could no longer hold or follow a normal conversation.