Episode
Airlangga Julio - The People versus Fadli Zon
- Podcast
- Talking Indonesia
- Published
- Jun 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2079
- Processing state
not_requested- Audio
- https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2329518641-talking-indonesia-airlangga-julio-the-people.mp3
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Summary
Airlangga Julio - The People versus Fadli Zon Last month marked the 28th anniversary of the mass rioting, that shook Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, and other major cities for several days in mid-May 1998. There was widespread looting and arson, which resulted in the deaths of over a 1000 people and large-scale property damage and capital flight. Soon, it was also revealed that incidents of sexual assaults and rapes had occurred on a massive scale. The rioters’ targets were overwhelmingly properties and businesses owned by ethnic Chinese Indonesians. The victims of sexual violence and rapes were also, although not exclusively, Chinese, Indonesian women. In the following days, Suharto’s authority became fractured and his regime fell, ushering in the Reformasi era. Key actors involved in these events of almost three decades ago, are today at the centre of power in Indonesia. Prabowo Subianto, now President, was then Commander of Kostrad, the Army Strategic Reserve Command, and Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, now Defence Minister, was then Commander in charge of Jakarta, Pangkoops Jaya. At the time, Sjamsoeddin’s failure to protect the capital was singled out for condemnation. Around the fringes of these events was also Fadli Zon, a long-time supporter of Prabowo, who by his own account, was close to the now president as the events of May 1998 played out. When he was appointed the Minister of Culture in Prabowo’s first cabinet in 2024, Fadli Zon immediately embarked on a controversial project to rewrite Indonesia’s official history for school curricula. He had a particular interest in the way in which the history of May 1998 would be represented. This became a focus in his public statements about the project, including challenging the historical account of these events accepted by the…