Sukarno 'died slow death in seclusion'

JAKARTA (JP): The nation's founding president Sukarno, who was officially declared dead of kidney failure on June 21, 1970, was "slowly killed" by Soeharto's government through his isolation, according to the former head of Sukarno's medical team.

"If there are some people who say that Bung Karno was killed slowly, yes (it's) the one (the government) who locked him up that did it. Not meaning 'to kill' literally, but the result was the same," said noted neurologist Mahar Mardjono, as quoted in this week's edition of the D&R weekly magazine.

Mahar, 75, a former rector of the University of Indonesia and reportedly the only living member of a team of doctors who treated Sukarno from Sept. 30, 1965, right up to his death, said the Soeharto government's enforced isolation of the nation's founding father lead to a marked deterioration in his health.

Sept. 30, 1965, was the day a coup d' etat blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was put down by the army.

When he died, Sukarno had been under virtual house arrest for six years at his Wisma Yasa residence on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Central Jakarta. The building is now the Satria Mandala military museum.

Sukarno was 69 when he died at the Army's Gatot Subroto Hospital. He was later buried in Blitar, East Java.

Controversy surrounded his death. Rumors that he was killed with poisonous injections circulated after he passed away, and some have said that Sukarno was left to die slowly with his illnesses untreated.

Mahar denied all these rumors, saying Sukarno's death was of natural causes brought on by illnesses related to his age.

If he was any other patient, Mahar said he would have advised him to "take a walk, or go on vacation somewhere," to make his mind joyful and restful. But how could I give such advice ... to someone under house detention." Theoretically, he added, Sukarno could have lived longer had he not been detained.

Mahar would not reveal the illnesses to which Sukarno succumbed, but the weekly quoted him as saying in his memoirs entitled Mahar, Pejuang Pendidik, dan Pendidik Pejuang that Sukarno had problems with his kidney and heart. He was also known to suffer from hypertension and had a blood circulation problem.

Mahar said that Sukarno always took the time to have medical check-ups, even when he was abroad, "so medical care was satisfactory (while he was still president)."

However, he said Sukarno became depressed after falling from power, adding that he was not even allowed to walk in the garden.

"Just imagine, Bung Karno was such an extrovert. He liked to interact with almost all kinds of people. Then suddenly he was locked up. He wasn't allowed to see anybody and all his activities were limited ..."

"His spirit that was once so high gradually declined. Anyone used to working hard often becomes sickly after retiring ... Well, Bung Karno did not just retire, he was impeached and then detained without any clear reason," he explained.

Sukarno initially read a lot and watched films with Mahar and the other doctors, but eventually tired of these limited horizons.

Mahar recounted how Bung Karno on many occasions complained to him in tears, saying: "What have I done wrong? Why am I treated like this? ... Har (Mahar), you are the only one who can help me." Mahar said he had once recommended to the government that Sukarno be given time to get out of Wisma Yasa and get fresh air, but received no response.

Mahar said that in the new era of openness, the reasons for Sukarno's detention should be clarified. "I think Bung Karno really didn't know what he had done wrong." (aan)