Contact Jeff King President, International Christian Concern, 301-989-1708, icc@persecution.org
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just become informed that the planned execution of three Christians in Indonesia has been stayed after large Indonesian street protests and a deluge of calls to Indonesian embassies around the world.
In Tentena, one of the main Christian cities in Sulawesi, protestors thronged the prosecutor’s office and demanded justice or they would not leave. Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva were scheduled to die early this Saturday for allegedly taking part in the violence against Muslims as part of the wave of violence that engulfed the Poso area in Sulawesi from 1998 to 2003.
Jeff King, President of ICC stated,
“One of the most amazing aspects of this case is that in attacks from 1998 to 2003, there were approximately 10,000 Christians murdered, 1,000 Churches burned down, and 80,000 homes burned down. In that orgy of violence directed against Christians, the only individuals the government chose to convict were these three men. This is quite alarming especially considering all the indications that local and regional government officials aided and abetted these attacks against Christians.
"We are expecting the Indonesian government to put off the execution for a week hoping that the national and worldwide furor over the executions will die down, and then they will attempt to carry out the execution. The Indonesian government is scheduled to execute the Muslim Bali bombers on August 22 and views the executions of these Christians as a way to balance justice – very important in Indonesian society. Overall concerns of Justice or whether these men are the fall guys for thousands of other guilty individuals is secondary.”
We appeal to concerned individuals around the world to keep up appeals to Indonesian embassies and ask their elected Representatives to make appeals to the Indonesian government asking for their case to be reopened and all the violence against Christians investigated.
Indonesian Embassy US
2020 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036, USA
Tel. - 202 - 775 - 5200;
Fax. 202 - 775 – 5365
http://www.embassyofindonesia.org/
Indonesian Embassy UK
38 Grosvenor Square
London W1K 2HW
Tel. (020) 7499 7661
Fax. (020) 7491 4993
Indonesian Embassy Canada
Post Mail: 55 Parkdale Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 1E5, Canada
Phone: (613) 724-1100
Fax: (613) 724-1105
http://www.indonesia-ottawa.org/
