ABC AUSTRALIA, 01/08/2004 08:15:31
Separatist arrested in Indonesia's Maluku Province
The daughter of fugitive Maluku separatist leader Alexander Manuputty has gone on
trial in eastern Indonesia for treason
Christine Manuputty was arrested in a mass roundup of suspects after a week of
bloody communal unrest in Ambon, last April.
According to an indictment read by prosecutor Sopaleuwakan, she is accused of
meeting members of the Maluku Sovereignty Front with the aim of separating Maluku
province from Indonesia.
Seventeen other people facing similar charges went on trial last week.
Manuputty's father heads the FKM. He and his deputy Sammy Waileruni were
arrested in Ambon city in April 2002 after encouraging followers to hoist banned flags
of the so-called Republic of South Maluku.
The two were sentenced to three years in prison in January last year on subversion
charges. An appeals court in May increased their jail terms to four years.
Manuputty fled to the United States after he and Waileruni were released pending an
appeal filed with the Supreme Court after their detention period expired in early
November.
01/08/2004 08:15:31 | ABC Radio Australia News
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