Suharto, who was ousted in 1998 amid political and economic chaos, died last Sunday at the age of 86 of multiple organ failure.

Supporters of the late former general, including members of Indonesia's largest political party Golkar, want him to be declared a national hero for his contributions to the nation, while opponents say he does not deserve such an accolade.

'We held this protest to refuse the calls for the hero title for Suharto as he committed a lot of human rights violations when he was a president,' said Mustar, an activist.

He was among a group of about 50 people from an organisation representing families who said they had suffered rights abuses under Suharto.

During the protest at a central Jakarta square, 1,000 mock tomb stones were displayed to represent victims.

Some of the group also carried placards saying 'Put Suharto on trial' and 'SBY-JK, Where is your promise?', referring to the initials of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Indonesians are divided over the legacy of Suharto.

The former general is credited by many for pulling millions of Indonesians out of abject poverty, but his rule was also marred by human rights abuses and widespread corruption.

Attempts to bring criminal charges for graft against Suharto were dropped because of the former president's poor health, although before he died he faced a US$1.4 billion (S$1.98 billion) civil suit over allegations of misuse of state funds by a charity he headed.

Critics say Suharto and his family amassed as much as US$45 billion in kickbacks or deals. Transparency International put Suharto's assets at US$15-US$35 billion, or as much as 1.3 per cent of gross domestic product.

Suharto and his family always denied any wrongdoing. -- REUTERS