JAKARTA, Jan 19: Indonesian anti-riot police briefly clashed with about 100 demonstrators on Saturday as they called for former Indonesian president Suharto to be brought to justice.

Students and human rights activists gathered outside the Jakarta hospital where the 86-year-old Suharto is being treated, but police barred them from entering, and were later joined by anti-riot police wearing shields and helmets.

A reporter saw police briefly hitting demonstrators. One student was arrested.

The former strongman, who is critically ill in hospital, ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years and has never been brought to trial for human rights abuses that occurred while he was in power.

Attempts by the state to recover money from Suharto and his family are taking years to wend their way through the court system.

The protesters carried banners with the slogans “Stop Exploiting Suharto’s Condition”, “Treat Suharto as a regular citizen”, “Bring Suharto and his cronies to court” and “Confiscate the wealth of Suharto and his cronies”.

With the former general so ill, a debate has emerged over whether to push ahead with legal action against him for graft.

After Suharto quit office in 1998 amid mass protests, he was charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds. Authorities later dropped the criminal case due to his poor health, although he faces a civil case related to the use of state funds by his charities.

Suharto and his family deny any wrongdoing.

Earlier in the day, doctors said that Suharto’s health had improved and he could eventually recover enough to go home.

—Reuters