ASIA/INDONESIA - “Three Catholics to be executed ‘in haste, while 86 more Indonesians have been waiting on death row for years”: Fides spoke with Fr Ismartono, co-ordinator of humanitarian and inter-religious affairs for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia

Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - “We are filled with sadness. We have lost all hope of saving the lives of three Catholics. The extremists appear to have won”, Jesuit Father Ignazio Ismartono, co-ordinator of humanitarian and inter-religious affairs for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, told Fides with regard to the imminent execution of Fabianus Tibo, Domingus Da Silva, Marinus Riwu, with following interreligious violence in Poso, Sulawesi.
“In Indonesia’s prisons there are 86 people who have been awaiting execution for years - says Fr Ismartono - but there have been no executions. Now these three Catholics - for whom a revision of the trial was requested and an appeal for a reprieve sent to the President - are to be executed in all haste. The problem arose when the case moved from the strictly juridical-legal level to the level of religion”. The institutions appear to have given way to pressure from fundamentalists.
Fr. Ismartono adds “everything possible was done by the local Church in Indonesia, the Bishops’ Conference, the Bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission. We have written letters, organised demonstrations, involved the civil society, human rights groups, the media, we have prayed. Now all seems lost. This evening in Jakarta groups contrary to the death penalty have organised prayer vigil in front of the offices of the Commission for Human Rights. Similar initiatives are planned all over the country also in Palu (Sulawesi), where 4,000 police troops have been deployed for fear of unrest and disorder if the execution goes ahead. We have urged all Christians not to react with violence but resentment at injustice is strong and tension is high”. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 21/9/2006 righe 28 parole 284)