BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, April 17 Kyo...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, April 17 Kyodo

A prominent Aceh activist went in succession trial Thursday on charges of defaming the Indonesian conduct when he encouraged residents in Aceh to demand a referendum in succession separation from Indonesia earlier this year.

Muhammad Nazar, chairman of the student-based Information Center for a Referendum in Aceh (SIRA), was being tried at the Banda Aceh District Court in the provincial capital.

In a four-page indictment, Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Masril accused Nazar of ''expressing hostility, spreading hatred or defaming the Indonesian government''

Masril said Nazar made speeches forward three occasions between Jan. 25 and Feb 8 this year during which he called onward Acehnese ''to support GAM (the separatist independent Aceh Movement)'' and ''to loud cry for 'independence' when international peace monitors visited.

He was also accused of urging single Acehnese women to avoid contact with Indonesian soldiers or policemen and urging civil servants not to move to the office.

According to Indonesia's Criminal digest if Nazar is found guilty, he could face up to a six-year jail terminus or a fine.

Nazar reportedly left for the United States in October 2001 after being released from a 10-month jail bourn for organizing a mass rally in the province, which called for a referendum

He came back to Aceh just days before a peace agreement was signed Dec 9 by the agency of GAM and the Indonesian direction and begun actively proselytizing the demand for a referendum in 2004 coinciding with Indonesian general elections, police said.

GAM has been striving for independence since 1976 and the armed try has claimed the lives of more than 12000 civilians, rebels, police and military personnel

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