The Star, Monday, August 19, 2002
Christian leaders go on trial for allegedly plotting rebellion in
Maluku
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Two Christian separatist leaders went on trial Monday for
allegedly plotting a rebellion in Indonesia's religiously divided Maluku islands.
The trial of Alex Manuputty and Samuel Waileruny in Jakarta comes four days after
an Indonesian court began hearing the case against the leader of a Muslim militia
charged with stoking violence in Maluku.
Manuputty, who heads the Maluku Sovereignty Front, entered the courtroom and
flashed a peace sign to 20 cheering supporters, who yelled out his name before the
judge silenced the courtroom with a bang of his gavel.
The trial of the two Christian separatists is seen as an effort by authorities in Jakarta
to hold Christian and Muslim extremists equally accountable for sectarian clashes
that have devastated the province and claimed at least 6,000 lives since 1999.
The men, who were arrested on April 17, are accused of plotting a rebellion and
encouraging their followers to hoist banned separatist flags. Manuputty's organization
is a small group banned for its campaign to make the southern part of the Maluku
archipelago an independent nation.
"The defendant has committed attacks against the state so that a part of Indonesia
will fall into the hands of the enemy or an independent state will be established,''
prosecutor Herman Koedoeboen told the North Jakarta District Court.
Waileruny, who is Manuputty's deputy, faces the same charges. If convicted, both
men could be sentenced to death. Neither are accused of committing any acts of
violence.
Manuputty's group wants Jakarta to allow a referendum on self-determination akin to a
U.N.-supervised plebiscite held in East Timor in 1999.
It insists that the Malukus, 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Jakarta, should not
be part of Indonesia.
Eighty percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslims, but South Maluku's two
million inhabitants are evenly divided between the two religious groups.
Muslim militia leader Jafar Umar Thalib is on trial separately for allegedly urging 2,500
members of his Laskar Jihad militia to "prepare for war'' in April. Two days later,
black-masked assailants armed with guns, grenades and daggers stormed a village
near Maluku's capital Ambon, killing 13 Christians in a pre-dawn attack.
Thalib's trial is being closely watched by the United States, which hailed his arrest as
a sign that Indonesia is cooperating in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. It resumes
August 29.
The reformist administration of Indonesia's former President Abdurrahman Wahid
accused hardline elements in the army of setting up the Laskar Jihad militia and
dispatching it to the Malukus in order destabilize the government and prevent reforms.
Large-scale inter-communal fighting there ended last year after Wahid was impeached
with the help of army generals. Although some militants later left for other trouble
spots, many of Laskar Jihad's rank and file members remain in the islands.
Copyright © 1995-2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
|
