Maluku separatist leader faces charge of treason

Oktovianus Pinontoan, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

Maluku Police said on Saturday that they would continue to detain local separatist leader Alex Manuputty on charges of treason.

"Pak Alex will not be released in the near future. In the past (2001) we detained him on accusations that he violated regulations imposed by civil emergency authorities. But this time, he has been charged with breaching Article 106 of the Criminal Code on treason," Maluku Police detective chief Sr. Comr. Jhony Tangkudung said.

He argued that the charges against the suspect were based on preliminary evidence gathered by police and military investigators.

Tangkudung, who leads the joint team of investigators, said that what Alex was doing had clearly shown he had committed treason against the state.

Alex, the leader of the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM), was arrested on Wednesday evening by dozens of armed police and military personnel who stormed his home in Ambon.

The arrest followed his plan to hoist a separatist flag on April 25, which coincides with the 52nd anniversary celebration of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) movement.

Police arrested Alex after more than one hour of negotiations led by Tangkudung at Alex's home as the suspect refused to surrender.

The security personnel also cut down three large flag poles for the separatist flags in front of his house, confiscating them and secessionist pamphlets.

Before forcibly taking Alex into custody, the authorities used paint to erase a separatist slogan written on the wall of an alley leading to his house.

Asked further about why Alex was arrested, Tangkudung said: "He (the suspect) has violated the ban by the Maluku civil emergency authorities on FKM activities, had planned to raise the separatist RMS flag, and had caused unrest among people in Ambon and Maluku in general".

Tangkudung said the joint investigation would focus on the treason charges against the FKM leader, who is still registered as a civil servant and works as a doctor in Ambon.

Since his arrest last week, some 200 FKM supporters have held daily protests outside the Maluku Police headquarters, where they occasionally have staged speeches or sang religious songs.

Alex said his followers will go ahead with the planned hoisting of a secessionist flag on April 25 despite his detention and threats by the authorities to take stern action.