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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Monday October 22, 2001
Separatist leader in Indonesia's Maluku defends flag-raising
AMBON, Indonesia, Oct 22 (AFP) - A separatist leader on trial in Indonesia's riot-ravaged Maluku islands on Monday defended his action in raising a secessionist flag, saying the government had been unable to protect its Christian citizens.
"The dignity of the (Christian) community has been severely degraded by extra-judicial actions, which have eroded their confidence in law," Alex Manuputty told the tightly-guarded court in the city of Ambon.
"They have been denied the protection they deserve and riots have escalated even after the civil emergency was imposed," Manuputty said.
The emergency was imposed last year in a bid to halt deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians. Some 5,000 people have been killed since January 1999 and over half-a-million driven from their homes.
Most pro-independence activists are Christians. Muslims accuse the activists of fanning the inter-communal violence.
Manuputty said security forces had been unable to rein in the militant Muslim group Laskar Jihad, which had sent volunteers from Java island to help their fellow Muslims fight Christians.
He described Laskar Jihad as "stronger than the military."
Manuputty walked out of the court on Saturday, arguing that he did not receive adequate security.
Manaputty, who heads the Front for a Sovereign Maluku, is charged with violating the 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 Front against separatist acts.
The offence carries a year's jail term under the civil emergency rules.
Manuputty said the flag-raising at his home was part of "the freedom of expression." The ceremony was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the separatist Republic of South Maluku, which launched a failed rebellion there in the 1950s.
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