Coffin of late ambassador Muhammad Prakosa buried in Yogyakarta

The coffin of the late Indonesian Ambassador to Italy, Muhammad Prakosa, was buried at the family cemetery in Sumbermulyo, Bantul District, Yogyakarta.

Prakosa died in office in Rome, Italy, last Tuesday (January 17). He was Indonesia’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Italy, accredited to Malta, Cyprus, San Marino, FAO, IFAD, WFP, and UNIDROIT.

“(He was) buried at the family cemetery behind the home and beside his late parents,” Prakosa’s cousin, Muhammad Iwan Nursasongko, stated here, Tuesday.

Nursasongko remarked that the burial ceremony started at 12:30 p.m. local time (UTC +7) in the presence of families, relatives, and government officials.

“(The ceremony) started at 12:30 p.m. and concluded at 2 p.m. Colleagues from the SAR Team and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) task force assisted the ceremony,” he noted.

Nursasongko said that before his passing, Prakosa had complained about his health. However, the family did not divulge further information on the health issue.

“When he departed (for Italy), he was healthy, and it was only earlier this year, in January. He once complained (about health conditions) while he was there (in Italy),” he noted.

Nursasongko said that Prakosa was a good individual, who contributed a lot to the family and his community, and as among the eldest in the family, he was protective of his siblings.

As relatives in Yogyakarta often communicated with Prakosa while he was serving the country in Italy, his death was a huge loss for the family, he remarked.

With a background of being a bureaucrat, Prakosa served as the minister of agriculture from 1999 to 2000 under the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid and as the minister of forestry from 2001 to 2024 under Megawati Soekarnoputri.

He also served three terms as a House of Representatives (DPR RI) legislator and represented his party, PDI-P, from 2009. President Joko Widodo then nominated him as ambassador in early 2021, and he assumed the position in November 2021.

Passing away at the age of 62, the late ambassador is survived by a wife and three children.

Source: Antara News