The ex-dictator took such exception to the cover story--"The Family Firm," published in May 1999--that he sued the magazine when it refused to retract it. Time insists the story is sound, noting it required four months of reporting in 11 countries to uncover the mechanism whereby Suharto transferred billions of dollars to Swiss and then Austrian bank accounts. Altogether, the magazine claimed his family accumulated about $73 billion from nepotistic business arrangements and corrupt dealings.
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But it seems political connections can still trump journalism: after two lower courts dismissed Suharto's lawsuit against Time, their rulings were reversed by a three-man panel of Supreme Court judges--one of whom is a retired general with ties to Suharto. The magazine has one chance to appeal.
Suharto seized power in 1965, enjoying American support as an important ally in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. But with the end of the Cold War, American support evaporated, and he was forced to step down in 1998. Rumors of corruption were widespread, and observers condemned human rights abuses in Indonesia, including Suharto's invasion of neighboring East Timor in 1975, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.