Jakarta archbishop comes out for Mary Jane’s innocence, calls for an end to the death penalty
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – After months of appeals and public statements by the Catholic Church in Indonesia, the archbishop of Jakarta, Mgr Ignatius Suharyo, has plunged directly into the campaign to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. For the prelate, state-sponsored killing constitutes an "offense against human dignity."
The issue is particularly topical now since nine prisoners, mostly foreigners, are scheduled to be executed shortly after being convicted on drug trafficking charges. The group includes Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a Catholic Filipina.
Back home, her case has stirred strong emotions. Filipino boxing champion Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, who is currently in the United States for a fight, has personally spoken out on her behalf.
On television, he said, “I am begging and knocking on your kind heart that Your Excellency will grant executive clemency to her by sparing her life and saving her life from execution”.
At present, Indonesian media are all eyes and ears on Kambang Island (Nusa Kambang), also known as Indonesia’s Alcatraz, in Central Java, where the prisoners are scheduled to be executed in the coming hours.
In an official appeal, Mgr Suharyo called on Catholics in the capital as well as all Indonesians to scrap the death penalty from the country’s law books.
To achieve this, the prelate has prepared a "special prayer" for the Filipina house cleaner and other prisoners on death row, and has asked the priests and faithful in his archdiocese to recite with special intention.
"The Church,” he said, “is totally opposed to the death penalty", in accordance with John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae and the teachings of Catholic doctrine.
Currently, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Indonesian Church is involved in another case. This person’s identity has been kept secret for now. Despite the death sentence, many believe that he or she is also innocent. Like in Mary Jane’s case, the evidence is dubious.
For Mgr Suharyo, more evidence has come to light recently, showing that the 30-year-old mother of two “is not a trafficker, but a victim, that she was arrested by mistake”.
Meanwhile, as Indonesian and Filipino migrant workers continue their protest in front of the Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong to get a last minute reprieve, preparations for the execution continue on Kambang Island.
Hearses have already brought over empty white coffins. At midnight local time, the prisoners will be taken to clearing among the trees, hands and feet tied. Here, they will be able to choose whether to be blindfolded, stand, kneel or sit during their execution. Only three of the 12-member firing squad will have live ammunition to aim at the heart.
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23/02/2019 08:14
23/11/2022 17:03
