Agence France-Presse, Mon May 3, 2004 3:41 AM ET
Wife and daughter of Maluku separatist in Indonesia to be
charged: police
AMBON, Indonesia, (AFP) - The wife and daughter of an exiled Maluku separatist
leader will be charged with subversion-related offences, police in the restive
Indonesian city of Ambon say.
Oly and Christine Manuputty, the wife and daughter of exiled Maluku
pro-independence leader Alexander Manuputty and two other men arrested on
Saturday will be charged with assisting subversion, a police spokesman said.
"We have completed their questioning and they are now suspects in a case of
assisting in subversive actions," spokesman Hendro Prasetyo told AFP.
The four were arrested at their home, the main base of the separatist Maluku
Sovereignty Front (FKM) headed by Manuputty, during a raid by Indonesian security
forces here on Saturday.
Prasetyo declined to give further details but said that the four were in police custody
at the Provincial Police headquarters.
Manuputty fled to the United States last year after being released from prison pending
an appeal to a four-year jail term passed in January linked to his campaign for
independence for the Malukus.
His present whereabouts are unknown.
The Malukus' independence movement is not believed to have widespread support
among Christians in Maluku, but Indonesia, which faces separatist unrest in Aceh and
Papua, is determined to crack down on independence moves.
Meanwhile, the security conditions in Ambon were much calmer on Monday.
"We had almost no disturbances last night. There were maybe two-three blasts heard
during the night, but that is already far better than in the previous nights," said Maluku
provincial spokeswoman Lis Ulahayanan. There were no reports of casualties, she
said.
A solitary bomb blast was heard from the Batugantung area close to noon but there
were no reported victims or damage, an AFP reporter said.
Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu told the state Antara news agency that he has
ordered security forces to remove the various makeshift barricades erected by
residents during the violence.
Ralahalu also said that to prevent a repeat of the incident last week when Christians
disembarking from a state ferry were attacked by a Muslim crowd, he had ordered a
separate disembarking port for Christians.
Christians will now disembark at the Halong navy base while Muslims can disembark
at the Yos Sudarso port.
At least 38 people had died in a renewal of clashes that erupted on April 25, the 54th
anniversary of the declaration of the South Maluku Republic.
Communal clashes pitting Muslims and Christians erupted in the Maluku islands
erupted in January 1999, leaving more than 5,000 people dead until a peace pact was
signed in February 2002.
Ulahayanan also said National Police Chief, General Da'i Bachtiar, is scheduled to
arrive in Ambon later Monday with two popular religious leaders -- Muslim cleric
Abdullah Gymnastiar and Christian Reverend Nathan -- to try and calm warring
factions.
A banned parade by Christian separatists last Sunday sparked off the latest violence
which also injured about 180 people. Hundreds of homes and many other buildings
including the United Nations (news - web sites) mission were set ablaze.
More than 2,000 Muslims and Christians have fled their homes, according to one
crisis centre. Those who stayed behind remained confined to their respective sectors
of the divided city behind makeshift street barricades.
Officials have portrayed the clashes as between independence supporters and
opponents, rather than Christian-Muslim battles.
Copyright © 2004 AFP. All rights reserved.
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