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Indonesian
priest could face death sentence for weapons possession
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Agence
France-Presse
February
03, 2003
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Indonesian priest could face
death sentence for weapons possession
JAKARTA - A Christian priest went on trial Monday for possessing
weapons and ammunition in Indonesia's restive district of Poso and
could face the death sentence if convicted, a judge said.
Reverend Rinaldi Damanik "is accused of illegal possession of
weapons and ammunition under the 1951 emergency laws, charges that
carry up to the death sentence," said Judge I Nyoman Somanada
of the district court in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi
province.
Between 500 and 1,000 people were killed in more than two years of
Muslim-Christian clashes in the Poso district of Central Sulawesi
until a government-brokered peace deal was reached in December
2001.
Damanik is a vocal leader of the Christian community in Poso.
Judge Somanada told AFP by phone that Monday's hearing, which was
tightly guarded by police, lasted only 30 minutes as the
prosecutor read out the charges.
Damanik said he understood the charges but was innocent, Somanada
said.
The trial will resume on February 10.
Damanik is accused of possessing 14 home-made firearms and 144
rounds of ammunition which were allegedly found in his car by
soldiers and police who halted a convoy of cars in Poso in August
last year.
Damanik has said he knows nothing about the weapons and there were
no witnesses to the alleged weapons discovery.
Sporadic violence has continued since the peace deal. bs/sm/nj
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