[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Executions spark Indonesian riots

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**http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5368922.stm

      Last Updated: Friday, 22 September 2006, 08:54 GMT 09:54 UK  

            
     
      Executions spark Indonesian riots 

     
             
            Thousands of mourners are praying for the dead men 
      Thousands of protesters took to the streets of eastern Indonesia after 
three Christian militants were executed in religiously divided Sulawesi. 
      Protesters torched cars, looted shops and set prisoners free from a jail. 

      But Palu, where the executions took place, remained calm. Mourners 
attended church services to pray for the men. 

      The men were convicted of masterminding attacks on Muslims in central 
Sulawesi in 2000 that killed at least 70 people. 

      A spokesman for the Vatican, which had appealed for clemency, described 
the executions as a defeat for humanity. 

           VIOLENT PAST 
             
            Previously known as Celebes, Sulawesi is Indonesia's fourth largest 
island
            80% of residents are Muslim, while 17% are Christian
            A December 1998 brawl in Poso led to months of religious violence 
in which hundreds died 


            Flashpoint: Sulawesi  

      The human rights organisation Amnesty International also expressed 
disappointment. 

      The three men - Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu and Dominggus Silva - were 
taken before the firing squad before dawn on Friday morning, according to 
police officers. 

      The bodies of Tibo and Riwu were then flown to their home towns, while 
Silva was buried in Palu, the provincial capital. 

      The attacks the three men were accused of instigating, in Poso, was part 
of a wave of violence triggered by a brawl between Christian and Muslim gangs 
in December 1998. 

      The violence left more than 1,000 people dead. The two sides signed a 
peace deal in 2002, but there have been sporadic incidents since. 

      Freed prisoners 

      As news of the execution emerged, at least 1,000 mourners packed the main 
Catholic church in Palu to pray for the three men. 

      Rioting broke out elsewhere, including on the island of Flores, the men's 
birthplace, and in Tibo and Riwu's Sulawesi villages as well as in Poso. 

      The worst violence broke out in the Christian-dominated town of Atambua 
in West Timor, where Silva was from. 

      At least 1,000 people took to the streets, throwing stones and looting 
shops. 

      Rioters damaged the state prosecutor's office and broke into the jail, 
freeing some 200 inmates. Only 20 prisoners had so far returned, police said. 

      One Catholic priest in Atambua told the AFP news agency he and three 
colleagues had managed to placate the rioters and they were now heading home. 

      National deputy police chief Adang Daradjatun stressed that the violence 
was being directed at the authorities, not at Muslims, and Indonesia was not 
witnessing a resurgence of the religious conflict of six years ago. 

      Papal plea 

      The case against the men has raised questions in Indonesia about the 
different sentences handed down to Christians and Muslims. 

      Few Muslims were ever punished for the violence in Sulawesi, and none to 
more than 15 years in jail. 

             
            The executions have highlighted the religious divide 

      Human rights workers also claim that while it was possible the three men 
took part in some of the violence in 2000, they were almost certainly not the 
masterminds. 

      The executions had been due to take place last month, but the three men 
were given a reprieve after a plea for clemency from Pope Benedict XVI, and 
demonstrations by thousands of Christians. 

      Despite government denials, many Indonesians connect the timing of the 
men's deaths with the planned execution of three Muslim militants for their 
part in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, that killed more than 200 people. 

      These men were also given a reprieve last month, and are now filing final 
appeals for clemency. 

      Indonesia is home to the world's largest number of Muslims. But in 
various eastern areas of the country, such as parts of Sulawesi, Christian and 
Muslim populations are roughly equal
     


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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