A. Wirahadikusuma; Indonesian General Urged Army Reform
Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusuma, 49, an outspoken army general who had advocated the overhaul of Indonesia’s corrupt and brutal military, died Thursday in Jakarta. The state Antara news agency said the cause of death was a heart attack.
Wirahadikusuma’s last job was as head of the army’s powerful strategic reserves command. He was fired in July 2000 after alienating much of the military top brass by exposing a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal involving his predecessor. A close ally of ousted President Abdurrahman Wahid, he had been at the post for five months.
In that time, Wirahadikusuma called on the military to abandon its long-held role in maintaining internal security and urged it to become a professional defense force.
He argued that top generals should be held responsible for human rights violations committed by the Indonesian military in East Timor in 1999 after the territory voted to secede.
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