Indonesian activist jailed for life

The leader of a secessionist group in Indonesia has been sentenced to life in prison for waving a separatist flag in front of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the nation's president.

The incident was a major embarrassment to the president as he was attending a government ceremony in Maluku in June last year.
bodyVariable350="Htmlphcontrol1_lblError";
A court spokesman said the leader of the separatist group, Johan Teterisa, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday in the provincial capital of Ambon after being found guilty of treason.

The harshness of the punishment reflects Indonesia's sensitivity to separatist movements.
bodyVariable300="Htmlphcontrol2_lblError";
At least 19 others were convicted of treason and sentenced to between 10 and 20 years for their involvement in the protest, court officials said.

Aides described Yudhoyono as being "livid" over the flag-waving incident.

Laying blame

Indonesia's military blamed the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) for not anticipating the incident, while military and police chiefs in the province offered to resign.

The outlawed South Maluku Republic (RMS) group, which was behind the flag-waving protest, emerged in the 1950s soon after Indonesia won its independence from Dutch colonial rule.

Indonesian military forces defeated the group, which was mostly Christian but had some Muslim members, and its leadership fled to the Netherlands.

It was largely forgotten until the eastern province of Maluku erupted in Muslim-Christian violence in 1999 that killed an estimated 9,000 people.

The Muslims labelled their Christian foes as separatists, a charge that helped give their cause legitimacy among the country's mostly Muslim leadership and media. An overwhelming majority of Christians in the province insist they do notwant a separate state.
Government-sponsored peace talks in the region in 2002 failed to end the violence, and sporadic clashes persist.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6FA6464D-627B-4C9C-A0C9-823E2299275E.htm