In Indonesia, second appeal to reopen case of three Catholics sentenced to death rejected

(April 07, 2006) : Indonesia’s Supreme Court rejected the second appeal to review the case of three Catholics sentenced to death over the 2000 sectarian violence in Poso, Central Sulawesi province and said the death sentence of the three accused, is irrevocable. Fabianus Tibo, 60, Dominggus da Silva, 42, and Marinus Riwu, 48, of the island of Sulawesi, were sentenced to death by the regional court of Palu in 2001. Now their hope to be saved has been dashed once again. The Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio recently launched an appeal to save the three Indonesian Catholics. The ecclesial movement in a communiqué said that the three, "illiterate and poor”, are probably only scapegoats, given that, following the discovery of new proofs it is uncertain that they were the material executors of the crimes, while the masterminds of the bloody disturbances of Poso continue to be unknown." Numerous organizations at the national and international level, including representatives of the Muslim community, have expressed their support for "Tibo and companions," as the three are now known. Their trial was marked by pressure from Muslim extremists. Last March 19, Bishop Joseph Theodorus Suwatan of Manado visited the three condemned men as Pope Benedict’s "special envoy."