Soeharto's photo burned seven years after his fall

Soeharto's photo burned seven years after his fall

Agence France-Presse, Jakarta

Dozens of Indonesian students burned a picture of ex-dictator
Soeharto in a rally Saturday to mark the seventh anniversary of
his fall after 32 years of iron-fisted rule.

But the rally by students from the state University of
Indonesia was a far cry from the tens of thousands of students
who stormed the parliament complex seven years ago to celebrate
Soeharto's resignation.

Only about 70 students rallied Saturday at a park near
Soeharto's home in an upscale central Jakarta neighborhood. They
demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono bring him to court
for corruption and abuses.

"The current government remains afraid to prosecute him
because Soeharto still holds power," a University of Indonesia
student leader said at the protest.

"We must push this government to create justice," the student
said amid continuous shouts of "prosecute Soeharto."

In another rally in the city of Makassar in eastern South
Sulawesi province, about 200 students demanded that Yudhoyono
"confiscate Soeharto's assets and use them to pay" Indonesia's
foreign debt.

Soeharto, 83, was earlier this month hospitalized for six days
with intestinal bleeding.

The ex-general has also suffered two strokes which, according
to his doctors, left him brain-damaged -- an argument which has
so far prevented him from standing trial for corruption during
his rule.

This condition also allowed Soeharto to escape trial for
abuses committed during his rule after his lawyers offered
medical evidence stating he could no longer hold or follow a
normal conversation.

Last month, newspapers reported Soeharto appeared quite
healthy and had walked unaided into a hall at the anniversary
celebrations of a theme park founded by his late wife.

Soeharto has lived quietly at home since he was forced from
power on May 21, 1998 amid economic and political upheaval
triggered by an Asian currency crisis.

Indonesia experienced sustained economic growth and a dramatic
reduction in poverty during Soeharto's reign, but much of the
country's vast wealth was skimmed off by a tiny elite linked to
Soeharto's military-backed regime.

The general began his rise to power amid a mass slaughter of
alleged communists which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives
in 1965-1966. No one has ever been named as ordering the
massacres.

Thousands were killed in Aceh province and East Timor during
his rule while hundreds more died in various efforts to stamp out
political dissent.