No more solitary confinement for three Catholics on death row
Indonesian law stipulates that convicts facing execution should be kept apart in a special cell. The decision has rekindled hopes for Tibo and his friends but the Attorney General has assured a new date would soon be set for their execution.
Palu (AsiaNews) The Indonesian prison authorities have alleviated the prison conditions of Fabianus Tibo, a Christian on death row. Tibo, Domingus da Silva and Marinus Riwu have been awaiting execution of their sentence by firing squad since mid-August. The decision rekindled hopes that the death penalty handed down to the three men convicted of masterminding a massacre of Muslims in Poso in 2000 may be revoked.
However, the Attorney General of Jakarta was quick to throw water on the flames of hope, saying a meeting between the competent authorities would soon be held to decide the execution date.
Fr Jimmy Tumbelaka, a priest from Manado diocese and spiritual director of Tibo, said Petobo prison in Palu had ordered that the "detainee should be taken out of solitary confinement despite the controversy surrounding plans for his execution." Indonesian law stipulates that death row convicts should be "kept apart" in a special cell before appearing before the firing squad.
Tibo was placed in an isolation cell on 9 August, three days before the date initially set for his execution and that of his two friends. Last night, however, the prison authorities decided to impose a much lighter security system on the three men.
The hopes raised by the priest's statement were quickly dampened by the words of the Attorney General ,Abdul Rahman Saleh, who criticized the decision to cancel the execution of the Catholics, announced by the head of police, Sutanto, at the last minute, on the night of 11 August.
Saleh added: "As far as I know, the police and local authorities in Palu will certainly fix the date for the execution and carry it out. The prosecutor would be mistaken if he did not carry out the sentence handed down by the court."
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