Chief prosecutor responsible for execution date of three Catholics is removed from office
Palu (AsiaNews) Indonesian authorities have not yet decided when to execute three Catholics sentenced to death. The decision, which was expected today, failed to materialise after it was announced that the Chief Prosecutor for Central Sulawesi, Jahja Sibbe SH, lost his job on Sunday. Under Indonesian law he was responsible for making such a decision. Sibbe, who is currently outside the provincial capital of Palu, is unavailable to confirm the report.
Central Sulawesi Prosecutor Office's spokesperson Hasman said power was transferred to Deputy Chief Mahfud Mannan.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General Office's in Jakarta said that Sibbe had been scheduled to meet Central Police Chief Brigadier General Oegroseno today to discuss the execution of Fabianus Tibo, Domingus "Domi" da Silva and Marinus Riwu.
Their execution, originally set for August 12, was delayed at the last moment.
In a trial considered "unfair" by many observers the three Catholics were found guilty in the massacre of Muslims that occurred during sectarian violence in Polo in 2000. Their fate attracted the attention of Pope Benedict XVI who has intervened to see their lives spared.
Similarly, prominent leaders in mostly-Catholic Flores Island in Ende Regency (East Nusa Tenggara) have sent a letter to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asking him to spare the three lives. But the president has not yet answered a plea for a pardon made by Tibo and his fellow prisoners.
Local member of parliament Hendrikus Parera, local member of the Indonesian Muslim Ulema Council Abdul Wahab Daud, and Civil Protection Unit Chief Gabriel are among the signatories.
"We ask the president to cancel Tibo's execution until the police investigates 16 people who played a key role in the clashes (as Tibo maintains)," said Hendrikus Parera.
The Indonesian president is currently under strong pressure from radical Islamic groups who want to see the three Catholics shot right away.
The head of the People's Consultative Assembly, Hidayat Nur Wahid, slammed the delays in the execution and condemned any talk about its cancellation, saying they illustrate the president's ambiguities towards upholding the law.
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