He was a US-backed dictator who led sweeping massacres. Why is he now being named a national hero?

For decades, he was a feared US-backed dictator whose regime oversaw bloody Cold War-era massacres, accused of diverting huge amounts of state money to propel his family into luxury and political power.

On Monday, he was posthumously named a national hero of Indonesia – prompting protests from human rights groups and victims who decried the award as whitewashing a repressive regime that left hundreds of thousands dead, according to historians.

Former President Suharto was granted the title in a ceremony by Indonesia’s current leader, Prabowo Subianto – Suharto’s former son-in-law, himself a divisive figure as a former general who faced his own allegations of human rights abuses while in uniform.

“A prominent figure from Central Java province, a hero of the struggle for independence, Gen