JAKARTA -- Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto faced a barrage of attacks regarding human rights issues and a controversial court ruling that allowed him to name the young son of Indonesia's current president as his running mate, in the first official debate featuring the country's three presidential candidates.
Allegations over Prabowo's role in the disappearances of pro-democracy activists reemerged during the three-hour event hosted by the General Elections Commission on Tuesday night. The disappearances took place during the reign of Suharto, Prabowo's former father-in-law who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for three decades beginning in 1968. Prabowo was serving as commander of the army's strategic reserves when Suharto -- dogged by a collapsing currency, an economy in tatters and an angry populace -- was forced to resign in 1998.
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