The Jakarta Post, 5/17/2002 9:03:55 PM
Security forces have take 'proportional action' in Maluku case:
VP
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Friday that the detention of
proindependence Maluku leader Alexander Hermanus Manuputty in Jakarta, which
followed the arrest of the commander of Muslim militant group Laskar Jihad, Ja'far
Umar Thalib,displayed "proportional action" taken by security forces.
Manuputty, leader of the proindependence Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM), had been
detained by Maluku police for a month on subversion charges which carry a maximum
punishment of life in prison according to Article 106 of the Criminal Code.
Hamzah added that Manuputty was brought to Jakarta due to his direct involvement in
separatist action.
He said that since the government had shown its intention to dissolve the FKM and
the RMS, it hoped that Laskar Jihad would start surrendering their weapons to Maluku
authorities.
"Later, when the situation has become more conducive, we hope they (Laskar Jihad)
will start to leave Ambon," Hamzah told reporters after Friday prayers at Al-Azhar
Mosque in East Jakarta.
Ja'far said on Friday that his forces would only be pulled out of Maluku once he
believed that the security of his Muslim brothers in Maluku was guaranteed by the
government.
Maluku Police Chief Brig. Gen. Soenarko said that to date, the police had detained 58
people from both Muslim and Christian communities across Ambon, including for
weapons possession.(tas/ylt)
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