17 more separatists stand trial in Ambon on charges of treason
17 more separatists stand trial in Ambon on charges of treason
M. Azis Tunny, Ambon
Seventeen more activists of the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM)
went on trial in the Ambon District Court on Tuesday on treason
charges over a separatist rally in April that sparked renewed
violence.
The hearing was held in public and proceeded smoothly under
tight guard from dozens of police officers.
The 17 defendants included two civil servants -- Frans Simiasa
from the Maluku governor's office, and Yakobus P. Siwarissa, from
the province's education office.
Also on trial were Elisa Wattimena, a retired official from
the Maluku agrarian affairs office, and senior FKM activist
Matheus Talakua.
Prosecutors said the defendants were charged with being
actively involved in separatist activities since 2001.
They were guilty of promoting the cause of an independent
South Maluku Republic (RMS), which they claimed had been in
existence since April 25, 1950, the prosecutors said.
They added that the defendants had participated in a ceremony
involving the hoisting of the RMS flag at the house of FKM leader
Alex Manuputty in Kudamati district, Ambon, on April 25, 2004, to
commemorate the RMS's 54th anniversary.
The government claims that the event triggered three days of
riots in Ambon that lasted until April 28, killing at least 41
people, mostly shot by "mystery" snipers.
All the defendants were rounded up after the commemoration
ceremony or after the violence had subsided.
Police arrested Matheus Talakua at Juanda Airport in Surabaya,
East Java, on May 4 after he was listed as a suspect. He had
reportedly made a statement published in the local Siwalima daily
on April 29, which the police said had encouraged renewed
violence .
In response to the charges under Article 106 of the Criminal
Code, Filio Noija, a defense lawyer from the Ambon Legal Aid
Institute, said the 17 defendants would accept the charges and
would not be presenting defense pleas.
The judges adjourned the trial until next week to hear witness
testimony.
The Ambon court started the trials earlier this month of FKM
secretary-general Moses Tuwanakotta and the wife of Alex
Manuputty, Oly Manuputty. They are facing the same charges.
Their trials resumed on Monday with the hearing of defense
pleas.
Alex fled to the United States last December after the Supreme
Court dismissed his appeal against his conviction by the lower
courts for involvement in the separatist movement in Maluku.