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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Friday October 19, 2001
Trial of Maluku separatist leader opens
AMBON, Indonesia, Oct 19 (AFP) - A separatist leader in Indonesia's riot-ravaged Maluku islands went on trial Friday under tight security for flying a pro-independence flag.
Prosecutors charged Alex Manuputty, head of the Front for a Sovereign Maluku (FKM), with violating rules of the civil emergency authority by flying the flag of the separatist South Maluku Republic on April 25.
The flag-hoisting ceremony was held days after Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina issued a letter warning the FKM against separatist activities.
The offence carries a maximum jail term of one year under the civil emergency rules, which were imposed last year in a bid to halt bloody clashes between Muslims and Christians there.
About 300 police and troops guraded the trial in the Ambon district court. Vehicles were checked.
Some 70 people, mostly Manuputty's supporters, attended the hearing, which was open to the public contrary to earlier reports. Other supporters who had waited outside the court shouted "Freedom" when he walked out of the building after the session.
The trial resumes Saturday.
The FKM was declared on December 18, 2000 and aims to set up the Republic of South Maluku.
Manuputty and his followers raised the republic's flag during a ceremony at his home on April 25 but police quickly hauled it down. Manuputty was detained for questioning but released a few days later.
Maluku has been the scene of clashes between Muslims and Christians since January 1999. Some 5,000 people have been killed and over half-a-million driven from their homes.
The Muslim camp has accused the mostly Christian activists of the Republic of South Maluku of fanning the violence.
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