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.