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Security
tightened in Maluku
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The
Jakarta Post
April
19, 2003
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Security tightened in Maluku
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja,
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Authorities have tightened security
in Maluku province ahead of the anniversary of the Republic of
South Maluku (RMS) independence movement on April 24.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar said here on Thursday that the police were ready to deal
firmly with RMS supporters trying to hoist the separatist flag on
April 24.
"We are guarding several
places in the province that we think are possible sites where
independence supporters will hoist the flag, which we will strive
to prevent from happening," Da'i said after a Cabinet meeting
here on Thursday.
Despite police warnings against
hoisting the independence flag, over 2,000 RMS supporters have
vowed to raise the flag on the organization's anniversary on April
24, raising fears of violent clashes between security personnel
and the movement's supporters.
RMS initiated an armed rebellion
due to disappointment with Jakarta in the 1950s, but it was
crushed by government troops.
"The police will not hesitate
to arrest anybody who insists on doing so (hoist the flag) as it
is against the law," said Da'i, adding that the police would
deal with offenders within the existing legal framework.
He also called on people not to
incite further violence in Ambon, where a protracted religious
conflict had killed close to 10,000 people, mostly innocent
civilians, since it broke out in January 1999.
"We call on the people there
not to incite new violence in Ambon because security in that
province has slowly improved," Da'i said.
Meanwhile, Maluku provincial
legislature chairman Sahubura said on Thursday that RMS was just a
security disturbance movement that security personnel had to deal
with firmly.
He also called on the government to
ban the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM), whose members support
independence, and deal sternly with its members in accordance with
the law.
FKM was set up in 2000 in protest
to the government's failure to put an end to clashes between
Muslims and Christians in the province.
FKM chairman Alex Manuputty was
sentenced to three years in jail in January for encouraging people
to raise RMS flags in 2002. He, however, remains free pending
appeal.
Sahubura also urged both the Maluku
administration and security personnel in the province to maintain
cohesiveness and solidarity among people in the province so that
both Christians and Muslims could join hands in dealing with
separatists.
He also appealed to the public not
to be easily provoked and to report the whereabouts of separatists
to local security officers.
Earlier, the Muslim community in
the province had vowed to foil any anniversary celebration of RMS
next week.
The Islam Defenders Front of Maluku
(FPIM) has began pasting green leaflets on buildings in a
predominantly Muslim housing complex in Ambon, warning the Muslim
community of the secessionist movement.
Such a response has raised fears of
renewed religious conflicts in the province, as virtually all FKM
members are Christian.
FKM secretary-general Moses
Tuanakota said that 2,500 supporters of the organization would
observe the anniversary by hoisting RMS flags across the province.
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