OMEN
08-11-2006, 11:43 PM
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Reprieve ... Witnesses have backed up the men's claims of innocence
INDONESIAN authorities have delayed the imminent execution of three Christians found guilty in 2001 of violence against Muslims by at least six days, the national police chief has said.
"I have received reports from the Central Sulawesi police chief and results from an agreement reached by the police administration and local officials there, that it is now planned after August 17," Sutanto told reporters.
"Therefore it's cancelled for tonight," he said, speaking less than an hour before they would have been killed.
Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marianus Riwu had been due to face a firing squad at 2.15am (AEST) in Central Sulawesi.
Coffins had already been prepared for the men at the prosecutors' office in Palu, the provincial capital.
August 17 is Indonesia's Independence Day, with remissions typically granted to prisoners.
Murderers, drug traffickers and terrorists are generally not considered although the President in theory could grant pardons to them.
"The consideration is that in the run-up to August 17, there will be various (preparatory) activities. Therefore they will be carried out after that," the police chief said.
Asked when, he said: "We will wait for reports from the police chief (there) but most likely it will be three days after August 17."
The stay of execution was granted after a last-minute request for clemency on "humanitarian grounds" from Pope Benedict XVI delivered to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, according to a statement from the Vatican.
Central Sulawesi was rocked by communal violence between Christians and Muslims in 2000 and 2001, which led to some 1000 deaths.
The three inmates were found guilty of inciting some of the violence and had exhausted their avenues of appeal despite critics strongly arguing their case was not fairly heard.
Their case is sensitive in mainly Muslim Indonesia, where three Indonesian Islamic militants are also on death row for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people. They are due to be executed on August 22 unless they request a case review.
The executions would have been the first in Indonesia this year.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, but Christians and Muslims live in roughly equal numbers in parts of the eastern island chain of Sulawesi and in Maluku.
Agence France-Presse
Reprieve ... Witnesses have backed up the men's claims of innocence
INDONESIAN authorities have delayed the imminent execution of three Christians found guilty in 2001 of violence against Muslims by at least six days, the national police chief has said.
"I have received reports from the Central Sulawesi police chief and results from an agreement reached by the police administration and local officials there, that it is now planned after August 17," Sutanto told reporters.
"Therefore it's cancelled for tonight," he said, speaking less than an hour before they would have been killed.
Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marianus Riwu had been due to face a firing squad at 2.15am (AEST) in Central Sulawesi.
Coffins had already been prepared for the men at the prosecutors' office in Palu, the provincial capital.
August 17 is Indonesia's Independence Day, with remissions typically granted to prisoners.
Murderers, drug traffickers and terrorists are generally not considered although the President in theory could grant pardons to them.
"The consideration is that in the run-up to August 17, there will be various (preparatory) activities. Therefore they will be carried out after that," the police chief said.
Asked when, he said: "We will wait for reports from the police chief (there) but most likely it will be three days after August 17."
The stay of execution was granted after a last-minute request for clemency on "humanitarian grounds" from Pope Benedict XVI delivered to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, according to a statement from the Vatican.
Central Sulawesi was rocked by communal violence between Christians and Muslims in 2000 and 2001, which led to some 1000 deaths.
The three inmates were found guilty of inciting some of the violence and had exhausted their avenues of appeal despite critics strongly arguing their case was not fairly heard.
Their case is sensitive in mainly Muslim Indonesia, where three Indonesian Islamic militants are also on death row for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people. They are due to be executed on August 22 unless they request a case review.
The executions would have been the first in Indonesia this year.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, but Christians and Muslims live in roughly equal numbers in parts of the eastern island chain of Sulawesi and in Maluku.
Agence France-Presse