INDONESIA. EXECUTION OF TIBO AND FRIENDS POSTPONED

September 21, 2006: three Indonesian Catholics imprisoned in Palu, province of central Sulawesi, will not be executed at least until tomorrow. “The execution will take place on Friday in the early hours,” (Palu time), said Fr Jimmy Tumbeleka, the spiritual director of the three condemned men, who has accompanied them throughout their detention.
The men’s execution by firing squad should have taken place yesterday at around midnight.
However, the authorities never communicated the exact time. Even now, there are no comments nor are there any official announcements about a new deadline. According to what Fr Tumbeleka told the Jakarta Post daily, the decision to execute the three men tomorrow followed a meeting between provincial police leaders. Fabianus Tibo, 60 years, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42, were condemned to death for masterminding the massacre of 200 Muslims in Poso during inter-faith clashes in 2000.
They should have been killed on 12 August but their execution was postponed at the last minute after strong international protests against their sentence and an appeal from the pope. Yesterday, the Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema made "a strong appeal" to his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirajuda to make Jakarta authorities stop the execution of the three Christians. In a meeting with the Indonesian minister at the 61st United Nations General Assembly in New York, D'Alema spoke up about the death sentence on the three Christians asking to his mediator to stop the execution on humanitarian grounds.
Christian and human rights groups claim Tibo and his friends are victims of an unfair trial, while Islamic extremists are calling for their immediate execution. Today, more than 1000 people took to the streets in Atambua, West Timor, for a prayer march.
Yesterday Tibo’s son had this message to give after meeting his father for the last time: “Thus, those who want to kill us will be satisfied.” The men asked to be executed in public. (Sources: AsiaNews, 21/09/2006)