Visit to three condemned Catholics by Pope's "special envoy": photos
The president of the Justice and Peace Commission in Manado was present at Sunday's meeting, and he sent photos of the visit to AsiaNews. The cause of "Tibo and friends" has considerable international backing.
Palu (AsiaNews) Three Indonesian Catholics condemned to death have been filled with "great courage to face their uncertain future", thanks to a visit from the bishop of Manado, who went as "special envoy" of the Pope. This is what Fr Benny Salombre told AsiaNews about the meeting on 19 March between Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu, Dominggus da Silva and Mgr Joseph Suwatan. Fr Salombre, who is the president of the Justice and Peace Commission of Manado Diocese, northern Sulawesi, also sent AsiaNews the photos published here.
The priest, who accompanied the bishop to visit the three convicts in Palu prison, said the meeting "has given them support to bear their suffering, aggravated by rumors about their imminent execution".
Tibo, 60 years, Riwu, 48 and da Silva, 42 have been found guilty of causing the massacre of Muslims in Poso in 2000, amid bloody inter-faith clashes that gripped the area until 2001. Their trial was marked by intimidation by Islamic extremists and the judges refused to hear witnesses for the defence, who would have cleared the three Catholics.
Benedict XVI is not the only one to rally to the cause of "Tibo and friends", as the three men are now known. Christian and Muslim human rights activists were quick to leap to their defence at both national and international level.
Amnesty international has launched an appeal to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, calling on him to revoke the death sentence hanging over the men. The bishop of Manado Poso falls within his diocese also wrote to the head of state, thus mobilizing the nation's Christian community. And a group of lawyers of different faiths, known as PADMA, came forward to defend the three men, found new witnesses in their favour, and called on the Supreme Court to reopen the case. Jubilee Campaign, a movement of Protestant Christians, has launched a petition of signatures asking for clemency for the three Catholics.
Tibo's cause is also backed by Nawawi S. Kilat, a well-known representative of the Muslim community in Poso, and one of the signatories of the Malino peace accords of December 2001 that ended the religious conflict. The head of the Protestant Synod of Sulawesi, Rev. Rinaldy Damanik, has called for further investigations, especially to find out more about the role played by 16 people pinpointed by the three condemned men as being responsible for the clashes.
Mgr Suwatan said AsiaNews has also played an important role at the international level, to make known the injustice suffered by Tibo and his friends.
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