THE STAR Online [Malaysia], Monday, 22 April 2002
Christian separatist in Indonesia's Maluku province charged with
treason
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A Christian separatist leader in Indonesia's Maluku
islands, already jailed for promoting a pro-independence flag-raising ceremony, has
been charged with treason, a police spokesman said Monday.
Maluku police said Alex Manuputty, leader of the Maluku Sovereignty Front was
charged over the weekend. He was jailed last week, after he threatened to hoist
banned separatist flags in Ambon on April 25, the 52nd anniversary of a failed
independence bid in the province.
"We have enough evidence to show that he was agitating people during a fragile time
in which we are working toward peace,'' Lt. Col. Johny Tangkudung said.
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. The fighting
destroyed much of Ambon and left up to 9,000 people dead.
Tangkudung said police are planning to crack down on anyone who displays or
distributes the banned separatist flags. When they arrested Manuputty, they cut down
three flag poles outside his house, whitewashed separatists slogans on nearby walls,
and confiscated secessionist pamphlets.
Tangkudung said Manuputty's arrest had helped reduce tensions in Ambon, which
had flared following a street bombing that left four people dead.
"Ambon is calmer now,'' Tangkudung said. Manuputty's Maluku Sovereignty Front is a
small group banned for its aggressive campaign to make the southern part of the
Maluku archipelago, 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Jakarta, an independent
nation.
The group wants Indonesia to allow a referendum on self-determination, akin to a
U.N.-supervised plebiscite held in East Timor in 1999.
About 85 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim, but South Maluku's
two million inhabitants are evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.
Copyright © 1995-2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
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