Release International
RELEASE INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS INDONESIA EXECUTIONS - WARNS THEY WILL SPARK MORE VIOLENCE |
| Mar 14 2007 |
In their final prayers they tell their priest they were innocent
Christian human rights organisation Release International has condemned the execution by firing squad of three Christians in Indonesia. The men were killed last night after being charged with inciting riots and murder in Sulawesi - despite pleading their innocence right to the grave.
RI's CEO Andy Dipper says: 'Even as they were being prayed for before their deaths, the three insisted to their priest they were innocent. This trial has been a travesty of justice; crucial defence evidence has been ignored. The three have become scapegoats and we fear fresh outbreaks of violence will follow as troublemakers exploit the divisions in this troubled community.'
Riots have already broken out in the divided community where militant Islamic groups have been seeking to stir up tensions between Muslims and Christians.
Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu were accused of masterminding attacks against Muslims, but human rights groups insist they did not have a fair trial.
The defence case is that the three Christians were evacuating children under attack in a church school. Evidence pointing to their innocence was ignored and the trial was conducted against a backdrop of armed demonstrators yelling for their deaths outside the courthouse.
Militants also made death threats against the defendants' legal representatives, and planted a bomb at the house of a legal advisor.
The appeal process, which was expected to take up to a year, was closed down rapidly. That's despite mounting international pressure which led three times to a stay of execution. Pope Benedict XVI made an appeal for clemency and the European Union also called for the death sentence to be dropped.
The three Christians are the only people to face the death sentence following the Poso conflict, which spanned 1998 to 2003. Many Muslims participated, yet few have been charged.
Estimates vary as to the numbers killed. According to International Christian Concern 10,000 Christians were killed in the attacks and 1,000 churches and 80,000 homes burned down. Observers believe Islamic militants used Indonesian government munitions and fuel trucks, pointing to military involvement.
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