Trial Opens for Two Christian Separatists
Two Christian separatist leaders went on trial for allegedly plotting a rebellion in Indonesia’s religiously divided Molucca Islands.
The trial of Alex Manuputty and Samuel Waileruny in Jakarta, the capital, began four days after a court started hearing a case against a Muslim militia leader charged with stoking violence in the Moluccas.
The trial of the two Christian separatists is seen as an effort by authorities to hold Christian and Muslim extremists equally accountable for sectarian clashes that have claimed at least 6,000 lives since 1999.
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