The Jakarta Post, May 02, 2004
Wife, daughter of Manuputty arrested
M. Azis Tunny, Ambon, Maluku
A joint police and military team arrested on Saturday the wife and daughter of Maluku
Sovereignty Front (FKM) leader Alexander Manuputty, as security personnel struggled
to bring under control renewed religious fighting in Ambon in which at least 35 people
have lost their lives.
Oly Manuputty and daughter Cristina Manuputty did not resist arrest at their
residence in Kudamati, believed to be a stronghold of the FKM and the South Maluku
Republic (RMS) secessionist movement.
Alex Manuputty, who was brought to court and sentenced to four years in prison for
leading the rebellion, slipped out of the country last year and is believed to be living in
the U.S.
Oly and Cristina, along with two unidentified supporters, are being detained at Maluku
Police Headquarters for further questioning. Their legal status is yet to be determined.
"We arrested four people in the house, including the wife and daughter of Alex
Manuputty and confiscated documents on the FKM and the RMS," Maluku Police
chief Brig. Gen. Bambang Sutrisno said on Saturday.
Besides documents on the FKM and the RMS, the police also seized two RMS
independence flags. The FKM was set up in 2000 by Ambonese residents frustrated
with the central government's inability to end protracted religious violence there.
Security personnel are struggling to return peace to Ambon, where renewed fighting
between Muslims and Christians broke out on April 25. The violence is the worst
since a February 2002 pact ended three years of religious fighting in which 5,000
people died.
Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu welcomed the arrest but regretted that
information on the operation had been leaked and no FKM activist was arrested.
"Other FKM and RMS activists will be arrested," he said, adding that the police had
complete data on the activists.
Meanwhile, clashes between Muslims and Christians subsided on Saturday, but
snipers continued to sow terror in the religiously divided town.
At least one person was killed and seven others injured by snipers in Latuhalat village,
Nusaniwe district, bringing the toll death to 35 since last Sunday. All of the victims
were taken to the Al-Fatah Hospital in downtown Ambon.
The conflict, allegedly triggered by a long march organized by the FKM on the
anniversary of the RMS last Sunday, has seen 238 people injured, 95 of whom are
still being treated at various hospitals in the town.
According to data issued by the Maluku administration, 536 buildings have also been
destroyed in the conflict, including the United Nations mission, and 2,317 families
comprising 10,684 people have taken shelter in refugee camps in Sirimau, Nusaniwe
and Baguala Ambon Strait districts.
Those who have not fled their homes remain confined to their respective sectors of the
divided city behind barricades set up on the streets.
Meanwhile, the Maluku governor moved to the newly built gubernatorial office after two
years of renting premises belonging to state telecommunications company PT Telkom
on Jl. Sitanala, Tanah Lapang Kecil, Nusaniwe district in Ambon. The old office was
burned down by warring parties in April 2002.
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