Outspoken army general dies of heart failure
Outspoken army general dies of heart failure
JAKARTA (JP): Agus Wirahadikusumah, an outspoken army general
who was known for his courage in calling for major reforms to
Indonesia's powerful military, died on Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Agus, 49, was believed to have died of heart failure
immediately after the Subuh (predawn) prayer, family members
said.
"He woke me up for the prayer. But, I found him in convulsions
after I finished wudhu (ritual ablutions)," Agus's wife, Tri
Rachmaningsih, said.
Tri, along with the family's driver, immediately drove Agus
from his residence in the Bulak Rantai Senior Army Officers'
Housing Complex in East Jakarta to the Pertamina Hospital in
South Jakarta, but he was dead on arrival.
It was not immediately clear what the cause of death was or
whether he had been suffering from an illness.
"The doctors said that the preliminary examination showed that
my father died of heart failure. But as far as I know, he was
healthy," Agus's son, Yunan Mahastra Satria, said. The graduate
of Ohio State University was unable to hide his tears after
paying a final tribute to his father.
Agus's daughter, Diyah Gustinar Savitri, is still in Ohio and
is expected to arrive here on Friday.
The controversial Army figure drew attention in 1998 when he
called on the Indonesian Military (TNI) to quit politics and
return to the barracks.
Agus, who at the time was general planning assistant to former
TNI chief Gen. Wiranto, was subsequently banished to Sulawesi as
a military commander there, far away from the center of power.
Agus also went to the House of Representatives to promote his
idea of abolishing the TNI's territorial function -- a suggestion
which drew strong opposition from within the TNI.
His latest move to rock the TNI boat, one which ended up in
his ouster as chief of the Army Strategic Reserves Command
(Kostrad), was his disclosure of huge corruption in his unit that
directly implicated his predecessor, Lt. Gen. Djadja Suparman.
Agus, who spent much of the 1980s studying in American defense
institutions, was a close ally of former President Abdurrahman
Wahid.
Almost two weeks before being dismissed from Kostrad, Agus
sold all of his five Harley Davidson motorcycles and donated the
money to help build the Tengku Bantaqiyah mosque in Pidie, Aceh.
He said at the time that his action was "to win the hearts and
minds of the Acehnese." He had also promised to investigate
Bantaqiyah's assassination and human rights violations allegedly
ordered by top generals.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto on Thursday
praised Agus, a 1973 graduate of the Indonesian Military Academy
for his thoughts and opinions, especially on reform within the
TNI.
"He was the one who raised the idea of reform in the TNI. We
(the TNI) will adopt his concept (of reform)," Endriartono told
reporters at Agus's residence. Endriartono's remark was supported
by Kostrad commander Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, who also visited
Agus's residence.
Meanwhile, former vice president Umar Wirahadikusumah revealed
on Thursday that Agus, his late nephew, had been offered the post
of TNI chief by then president Abdurrahman Wahid but had refused
it.
"It was on the morning of July 23 that Abdurrahman Wahid asked
Agus to become the TNI chief," Umar, vice president from 1983
until 1988, said at Agus's residence.
"But Agus, with the approval of his relatives, rejected the
offer, saying it was the Army chief of staff who had the
authority to name an Army officer as a candidate for the position
of TNI chief," he said.
The offer was made only hours before the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) appointed then vice president Megawati
Soekarnoputri as the new president, replacing Abdurrahman.
Meanwhile, former TNI chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto dismissed
speculation that there had been a rift between him and Agus,
saying that "it was just an opinion put out by the media."
"Agus was a member of a 36-strong team at TNI Headquarters
which was responsible for drafting reforms in the military," he
told reporters. (tso/yan/imn)