Nine Maluku separatists get prison for treason

Nine Maluku separatists get prison for treason

Muhammad Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku

The Ambon District Court sentenced nine activists of the
separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) group on Monday to between
30 months and 15 years in jail for treason.

Armed forces chief of the RMS emergency government Jhon Rea
and his senior colleague Pieter Rea were jailed for 15 years
during the trial.

Six other defendants -- Polly Jefry Soulisa, Philipus Nurlatu,
Elisa Roberto Mathenahoruw, Sandy Lolupua, Yohanis Tuhuteru and
Reinhard Nanlohy -- received 13-year sentences.

The panel of judges led by Kharlison Hariantja also sentenced
another Malukan separatist Yosep Lesnussa to two years and six
months for the same offense.

Kharlison said Jhon Rea and his members were found "guilty
beyond reasonable doubt of committing treason" as they publicly
declared themselves "RMS citizens" and refused to recognize
Indonesia's sovereignty over Maluku province.

"Nationally and internationally, Maluku is recognized as part
of the Unitary State of Indonesia. Therefore, it is clear what
Jhon Rea and his group have done is a separatist act and cannot
be justified," the presiding judge said.

Prosecutors A. Sopaleuwakan and Devi Muskita had sought 15
years in prison for Jhon Rea and Pieter and 13 years for the six
other defendants.

The judges gave Yosep a lenient sentence after he expressed
regret for joining the RMS during his trial on Dec. 29, 2003.

Yosep also told the court that he remains an Indonesian
citizen and would not to repeat what he had done in the past.

Jhon Rea and eight other defendants were arrested by police on
April 19, 2003 after receiving a tipoff from local residents that
he chaired "illegal meetings" of his group at his house in Batu
Gajah, Sirimau subdistrict, Ambon.

The police found important documents belonging to the
separatist group during a raid on Jhon Rea's house.

The documents included Jhon Rea's application for a visa to
Britain, the police said.

Jhon Rea claimed the regular meetings that had been held since
January 2002 were for religious prayers. But the police and the
judges brushed aside the claim.

"The excuse that they had gathered for a religious service is
illogical because the meetings were only attended by those
involved in the structure of the RMS emergency government,"
Kharlison told the court.

He said the police found evidence during the raid that the RMS
was preparing for the transfer of Maluku's sovereignty to the
separatist group.

"This is an act of treason," Kharlison added.

Upon hearing the verdict, Jhon Rea said he was contemplating
an appeal. "I will let you know later," he told The Jakarta Post
after the trial that was guarded by dozens of police officers.

On Dec. 23, the same court had also sentenced nine other RMS
members to 16 months in jail for rebellion against the state.

Presiding judge Lodewijk Tiwery said the defendants had
attended "clandestine meetings" aimed at consolidating the
secessionist movement as well as strengthening the Maluku
Sovereignty Front (FKM), a group affiliated to the RMS.

The meetings were usually held on Mondays and Saturdays at a
certain place in Alang village to prepare for the RMS anniversary
on April 25, 2004, when they planned to hoist separatist flags,
he added.

During the meetings, the defendants prayed for FKM leader Alex
Manuputty and his deputy Samuel "Semmy" Waileruny in order for
them to be able to "free Maluku from the Unitary Republic of
Indonesia".

Alex fled to the United States before his appeal against his
conviction was dismissed by the Supreme Court. Along with Semmy,
he had been sentenced in early January by the North Jakarta
District Court to three years in prison for plotting rebellion.

The Jakarta High Court upheld the sentences.

However, Maluku Police arrested Semmy on Monday and sent him
to Jakarta to serve his three-year prison term.