Poso (AsiaNews) – A few hours before their execution, the three Catholics sentenced to death for the 2000 deadly Poso clashes, went to confession and took part in the Eucharist. They met priests and their defence attorneys. But for some members of their legal team, the sentence will not be carried, at least not tonight.

"I am almost certain the execution won't take place", said Fabianus Tibo, one of the three death-row inmates—so is Fr Norbert Bethan, svd, their spiritual advisor, also from the Flores Islands. "I am confident that the execution won't happen tonight," he told AsiaNews.

One of their lawyers, Roy Rening SH, has also the same impression. He said the Palu Prosecutor Office was still empty a few hours before the scheduled execution (00:15 local time; 18:000 GMT). Still, after the mass, Tibo said: "I am ready to meet the Lord. I feel he is very close to me."

The three men, on whose behalf the Pope asked clemency in a letter sent today to President Susilo, have already take the necessary dispositions for their funeral and burial.

Tibo asked priests to celebrate a solemn mass in Palu's St Mary Cathedral with Bishop Peter Canisius Mandagi presiding. He also indicated that he wanted his remains to be buried in Beteleme Tua, Morowali Regency, where he lived for decades.

Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu asked instead that their bodies be repatriated to their place of origin, Flores Islands, in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Da Silva used the occasion to tell his lawyers "to promote justice and fight for an honest legal system in Indonesia. Tell the Pope, the world, and all of Indonesian society, that there is still a lot of injustice in Indonesian courts."

Tibo's family is close-knit. "Take care of mum," he told his eldest son Robertus, who said he was "profoundly saddened in seeing this injustice done to my father". Tibo's wife, Nurlin Kasiala, was visibly too distraught to say anything.

Vigil prayers and demonstrations against the execution of the three men continued across Indonesia drawing both Christians and Muslims. To many people, they are innocent.