AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Wednesday January 29, 2003
Christian separatist leader says jail term "unconstitutional"
JAKARTA - A Christian separatist leader in Indonesia's Maluku islands on
Wednesday described a court's decision to jail him for subversion as
"unconstitutional."
Alex Manuputty, chairman of the Maluku Sovereignty Front, said his verdict was
"illegal and fatally wrong" because the government failed to provide him and his
co-defendant, Samuel "Sammy" Waileruny, with travel expenses to attend the trial in
Jakarta.
"We want to attend it but local officials here are not providing us with any financial
help," Manuputty told AFP from Ambon in the eastern Maluku islands.
"Therefore, the verdict is unconstitutional because the state failed to provide us with
expenses to travel to Jakarta to attend our own trial."
Manuputty, 55, and Waileruny, 45, were on trial in Jakarta for campaigning for an
independent state in the Maluku islands. They returned to Ambon two weeks ago after
their detention period expired before the court could pass a verdict.
They had asked for 210 million rupiah (23,300 US dollars) to cover their living
expenses in Jakarta during the remainder of the trial.
On Tuesday the North Jakarta district court sentenced them to three years in jail for
carrying out "an act of subversion with the intention of dividing the Unitary State of the
Republic of Indonesia."
They had been arrested in Ambon in April last year after encouraging their followers to
hoist banned separatist flags.
It was unclear if the men would remain free pending their appeal against the verdict.
Manuputty deemed the verdict "a farce" because "the state has no desire to present
us at the trial so that we can read our final defence plea."
Some Muslims accused the separatists of fomenting Muslim-Christian battles in the
Malukus which broke out in January 1999. More than 5,000 people were killed and
half a million driven from their homes until a shaky truce took hold about a year ago.
Christians, in turn, said the hardline Laskar Jihad Islamic militia fuelled the battles.
A separate Jakarta court is due Thursday to sentence Ja'afar Umar Thalib, the head of
the now-disbanded Laskar Jihad, for inciting violence in the Malukus.
The government decision to prosecute leaders from both sides was seen as an
attempt to be even-handed in the conflict.
People loyal to Dutch colonial rule declared a Republic of South Maluku in 1950 and
staged a revolt against newly-independent Indonesia. The rebellion was suppressed
but activists, mainly in the Netherlands, launched a failed campaign for international
recognition. vt/sm/mfc
Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved.
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