In 1976, then-Lt. Prabowo Subianto arrived for his first tour of duty in East Timor, the former Portuguese colony that Indonesia had invaded and occupied the previous year. The youngest person to lead a unit of the Indonesian military’s special forces arm, Kopassus, the 26-year-old Prabowo was sent to Timor in search of Nicolau Lobato, a prominent leader of the region’s independence movement.
Two years later, Prabowo’s unit located, arrested and killed Lobato. His severed head was mailed to then-Indonesian President Suharto as proof of his death.
With that mission, Prabowo began his long military and political career. It would be a career littered with abuses, including alleged war crimes. It would also culminate in his inauguration as Indonesia’s eighth president on Oct. 20.