Anton Medan, or Haji Muhammad Ramdhan Effendi, birth name Tan Hok Liang (10October 195715March 2021), born in

Tebing Tinggi Tebing Tinggi Deli or more commonly simply ''Tebing Tinggi'' ( Jawi: ) is a city near the eastern coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. It has an area of 38.44 km2 and a population at the 2010 Census of 145,180, which grew to 172,838 at the ...

, was an Indonesian former robber and gambling tycoon who converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and became a preacher in 1992. He later established a mosque, Masjid Jami' Tan Hok Liang, in Pondok Rajeg, Cibinong,

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Suharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...

's New Order rule when gangsters were used in politics, business and government agencies. In 1998, Anton Medan was used as a scapegoat for the orchestration of the Jakarta Riots after which the allegation was then quietly dropped. The riot, which was initially a student demonstration to protest against the Indonesian president Suharto, turned into an anti-Chinese demonstration in the capital

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. Anton Medan was of Chinese descent, but he took to the street and joined the riot to prove that he was loyal to the people but he himself became a target. In the political turmoil of 1998, it was also reported that Prabowo Subianto, Suharto's son-in-law and the commander of Kopassus, the Indonesian Special Forces, had recruited and manipulated Anton Medan to gain militant supporters. During the investigation of the 1998 riot, Anton Medan denied the accusation that he was actively involved behind the scenes, although he admitted that he was in the middle of the mob. However, he refused to testify unless the

National Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

rehabilitated his name first.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medan, Anton 1957 births 2021 deaths People from Tebing Tinggi Indonesian people of Chinese descent Indonesian Hokkien people Converts to Christianity from Buddhism Converts to Islam from Christianity Indonesian former Christians Indonesian Muslims Indonesian criminals Robbers Indonesian Islamic religious leaders