Maluku separatist leader faces charge of treason

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.