Suharto’s not dead. But if he was, we have had a preview of how Foreign Minister Alexander Downer would describe him:
BARRIE CASSIDY: But first the death of [President Suharto] overnight. Some leaders are saying that by dying he cheated justice. How do you see it?
ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, it’s a pity the trial never came [about]. This was a man who was an evil man, he was a wicked man. Eventually driven from power by a combination of [western powers] and his own people, and committed some, in my view, egregious war crimes. I mean, hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the [Indonesia] as a result of the policies of President Suharto. His death means that he doesn’t complete the path of justice and in that sense it’s unfortunate.
Australia has never pursued Suharto for war crimes against the Indonesian people, and clearly has no intention of doing so. He makes Milosevic look like an amateur.