ASSOCIATED PRESS, Thu Apr 18, 2002 1:14 AM ET
Christian leaders arrested in Malukus ahead of independence
celebration
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Two Christian separatist leaders in Indonesia's Maluku islands
were detained ahead of planned celebrations to mark a failed independence bid 52
years ago, a police spokeswoman said Thursday.
Dozens of armed policemen wearing bulletproof vests picked up Alex Manuputty and
Samuel Waileruny at their homes on Wednesday, a police spokesman said. They
were later questioned over alleged plans to hoist banned separatist flags in Ambon,
the capital of South Maluku province, on April 25.
Flag-raising ceremonies would test the strength of a recent peace deal that ended
three years of fighting between Muslims and Christians in the region. Up to 9,000
people died in the conflict.
Under Indonesian law, police must release the detainees within 24 hours unless they
can produce evidence linking them to a crime.
Manuputty is the leader of the Maluku Sovereignty Front, a small group banned in
Indonesia for its aggressive campaign to make the southern part of the Maluku
archipelago an independent nation. Waileruny is the group's deputy head.
Hundreds of their supporters protested the arrests in front of local police headquarters
Wednesday.
The group wants Indonesia to allow a referendum on self-determination in the province,
akin to a U.N.-supervised plebiscite held in East Timor (news - web sites) in 1999. It
insists that the Malukus, 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Jakarta, should not
be part of Indonesia.
Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, but South Maluku's two million inhabitants are
evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. The front claims widespread support
among Christians in the province.
Analysts say, however, that it lacks the ability to ignite an independence struggle on
the scale of the conflicts in Aceh and Papua.
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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