Johan Teterissa (born c. 1961 – December 4th, 2019) was a

Moluccan Moluccans are the Melanesian-Austronesian and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas). The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian provinces of ...

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

teacher, activist and member of the

Republic of the South Moluccas South Maluku, also South Moluccas and officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist state that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which currently make up most of the Indonesian province of Maluku. The ...

, or RMS, an active

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

group which advocates independence for the

Maluku Maluku may refer to: Places * Maluku Islands, an archipelago that is part of Indonesia ** List of the Maluku Islands * Maluku (province), a province of Indonesia comprising the central and southern parts of the archipelago * North Maluku, a provin ...

islands from Indonesia. Teterissa was sentenced to life in prison for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

in April 2008 after leading a nonviolent protest against Indonesian rule in 2007. Teterissa, and a group of 19 traditional Moluccan dancers, unfurled a

secessionist Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

flag of the banned South Moluccan Republic in front of

Indonesian President The president of the Republic of Indonesia () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president is the leader of the executive branch of the Indonesian government and the commander-in-chief of the In ...

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to as SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired Indonesian Army, army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014 and the second president of Ind ...

on June 29, 2007, in Ambon, the capital of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

designated him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

2007 Ambon protest

Teterissa is reported to have first joined the RMS in 2002 in his home village of Aboru, which is located in Central Maluku. Teterissa, who is an

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

by profession, had been arrested and given a lenient sentence in the past for a similar flag waving demonstration in 2003. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had arrived in Ambon, the capital of

Maluku province Maluku is located in Eastern Indonesia and geographically located in West-Melanesia, between Sulawesi and Western New Guinea, and comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. It is directly adjacent to North Maluku, South ...

, on June 29, 2007, to preside over an official ceremony marking National Family Day. A group of RMS protesters, led by Teterissa, peacefully disrupted the ceremony while President Yudhoyono was attending the event. The group of nineteen men, who were led by Teterissa, performed a traditional

war dance A war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare. Martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like setting ...

and then unfurled the

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

of the banned South Moluccan Republic (RMS). Teterissa and the other protesters were immediately arrested. Presidential aides to Yudhoyono described the President as "livid" over the flag waving protest. The

Indonesian military The Indonesian National Armed Forces (; abbreviated as TNI) are the military forces of the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of the Army (''TNI-AD''), Navy (''TNI-AL''), and Air Force (''TNI-AU''). The President of Indonesia is the Supreme C ...

and government blamed the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) for not anticipating a possible protest at the ceremony. The incident was considered to be a major embarrassment to the government of Indonesia. The protests prompted the government to remove and replace the Maluku provincial

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

police chief A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or sometimes just a chief, ...

Trial

Johan Teterissa was convicted of "plotting against the state" and sentenced to life in prison on April 3, 2008 in the provincial capital city of Ambon by the Ambon District Court. Teterissa's

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

is the maximum punishment for

allowed under Indonesia's Criminal Code. Teterissa, who was 46 years old at the time of his sentencing, was reported to have broken down and cried as the guilty

verdict In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales ...

and life sentence was handed down, according to

Antara Antara may refer to: * Antara (music), a verse in Hindustani classical music * Antara (musical instrument), or siku, a traditional Andean panpipe * Antara (news agency), an Indonesian news agency * Antara (Peru), a mountain in Peru * Antara Pol ...

, Indonesia's state run news service. Teterissa told the Ambon judges that he had acted on the orders of Simon Saiya, the leader of the RMS who is wanted by Indonesian authorities. In their sentencing the judges told Teterissa that he had "embarrassed the people of Indonesia in the eyes of the world." They also told Teterissa that, as leader of the protest, his sentence was particularly harsh because he had shown no remorse for his actions. Teterissa's life sentence for treason is believed to show the government of Indonesia's extreme sensitivity to

separatist movement Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

s across the country, which consists of a sprawling

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

of nearly 18,000 islands. Indonesian court official Amin Syafrudin said that another 19 RSM activists had been convicted of treason chargers and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years for their part in the June 2007 protests. They included Abraham Saiya, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail on April 3, 2008 for participating in the flag-waving demonstration. Four other Moluccan separatists were given similar prison sentences in March 2008 for displaying or possessing the RMS

, which is banned in Indonesia.

Reactions

Human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activists condemned Teterissa's life sentence for a nonviolent protest as excessive. Antonius Sujata, a former Indonesian deputy

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, called Teterissa's punishment, "emotional, political and nonsense." Sujata also told the media that, "The man only waved a flag and did not try to harm the President." Asmara Nababan, who is the former

secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights told the media that the judges overreacted to the incident in their sentencing, as Teterissa's protest was nonviolent. "The judges should have deemed his action more as a political aspiration than a life-threatening act. He only waved an RMS flag, and did not carry a weapon." Critics also pointed out that no

separatists Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

who took up arms against the government from two of Indonesia's more well known independence movements,

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

and Papua, have been sentenced as harshly as Teterissa, who performed a nonviolent act. Many Papuan secessionists have avoided prosecution by handing over their weapons to government authorities. A number of Acehnese fighters were released as part of a peace agreement in 2005.

Imprisonment

reported that in June 2012, Teterissa and other prisoners lacked access to clean drinking water. The following month, he was transferred to Batu Prison on Nusakambangan Island due to overcrowding. Upon his arrival, guards reportedly used electric cables to whip his back, causing Amnesty to issue an alert on Teterissa's behalf. After 10 years of imprisonment, Johan Teterissa was released in December 2018. He died on 4 December 2019 less than a year after his parole and return to the Moluccas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teterissa, Johan 1961 births Living people Indonesian activists Indonesian Christians Indonesian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Indonesia Indonesian schoolteachers Moluccan independence activists Moluccan people Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Indonesia People convicted of treason against Indonesia

2007 Ambon protest

Trial

Reactions

Imprisonment

See also

References