Tibo Execution
Aug 11th, 2006, in News, by PatungCornelius Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva, and Marinus Riwu are due to be executed fifteen minutes after midnight, Saturday 12th August.
Click for Latest News on Tibo.
Fabianus Tibo (60), Dominggus da Silva (39), and Marinus Riwu (48), who are Catholics, were convicted in 2001 of being involved in the killings of 122 Muslims and the burning down of 4 houses during sectarian fighting in central Sulawesi between May and July, 2000. Since 2001 various attempts at gaining clemency and case reviews have failed.
Cornelius Fabianus Tibo.
On the 9th the Attorney General’s office sent notice of the planned execution to the families of the men, as well as to the condemned men themselves. Both the men and their families refused to sign the notices.
The men have made three final requests. 1. That their bodies be taken to the Santa Maria church in Palu for requiem mass. 2. That they later be buried at the Beteleme cemetery in Morowali, central Sulawesi, while one of the men, Dominggus, asked to be buried in his native Flores, in East Nusa Tenggara. 3. That they be accompanied at the execution by Pastor Joseph Suwathan, Pastor Jemy Tumbelaka, Pastor Melky Taroro, and Roy Rening, head of their legal team.
Recently an amnesty was declared for those involved in the violence that racked the towns of Poso and Palu in central Sulawesi between 1998 and 2000, but, as Father Rinaldy Damanik, the head of the Majelis Sinode Gereja Kristen Sulawesi Tengah (GKST), explains:
If Tibo is executed then just who will the amnesty be given to? Why are Tibo, & co. not included in discussions of granting amnesty?
(Kalau Tibo dieksekusi, lantas kepada siapa saja amnesti itu akan diberikan. Kenapa Tibo dan kawan-kawan sama sekali tidak dimasukkan dalam pembicaraan pemberian amnesti itu.)
Brigadier General Oegroseno, head of central Sulawesi police, said on the 9th that he had already prepared the firing squad for the execution, comprised of officers from the Mobile Brigade. They have “training” for the execution for several months, he said.
Since the news was announced various pleas have again been made for a postponement of the execution or its cancellation. Demonstrations have also occurred in towns in the area and in the mens’ native province of East Nusa Tenggara.
The Governor of East Nusa Tenggara, Piet Tallo, said he hoped the government would be fair in weighing all the factors and would not cause Tibo & co. to become victims. Whatever the result he asked that people in his province accept things calmly.
The lawyer for the three men, Alamsyah Hanafiah, complained that their execution would cause the knowledge of what happened in Poso in 2000 to be lost forever. 16 men who had been named by Tibo as key figures in the violence had yet to be tried, he said.
In Palu, near Poso, the Catholic community voiced their dissent. About 50 of them, mainly women and coming from the Santa Maria parish, demonstrated on 10th August outside the Attorney General’s office. Their coordinator, Adrianus Hode, said:
Tibo, Marinus and Dominggus have only been made victims in the case of the violence in Poso.
(Tibo, Marinus dan Dominggus hanya dikorbankan dalam kasus kerusuhan di Poso.)
Lawyer Roy Janis also said at the demonstration:
Tibo and Co. were not the key men in the violence, the real culprits are still free.
(Tibo dan kawan-kawan bukan pelaku kerusuhan, pelaku sesungguhkan kerusuhan Poso justru bebas berkeliaran.)
In nearby Tentena, a heavily Christian town, more than 1000 people demonstrated on the 10th.
In various towns and regencies of NTT, such as Maumere, Ende, Sikka, and Larantuka, many thousands of people marched on the 10th and 11th. In Ende, where Tibo was born, it is estimated 5000 people have come onto the streets. No violence has been recorded.
In the capital of NTT, Kupang, on the night of the 11th, 1000 candles were lit to protest the execution.
In Tentena Kompas says, 11th August, that about 60 people have forcibly occupied the offices of the Attorney General. Staff are not being allowed to leave, there are conflicting reports about a hostage situation.
In Jakarta a coalition of human rights groups urged the government to cancel the execution, at the Wahid Institute. Three religious leaders in North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi also requested similar. Bishop of Manada, Mgr. Joseph Suwatan, chairman of the North Sulawesi branch of Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), Arifin Asegaf, and President of Asia Fellowship of Mission 21 Partner Churches, Dr Nico Gara, were of the opinion that the execution would harm the good name of Indonesia and reflect badly on the justice system.
Jusuf Kalla, the vice president, said that the execution was no business of the government, it was a product of the legal system.
However Attorney General’s Office spokesman I Wayan Pasek Suartha said that nothing could stop the execution except technical difficulties. He said the three sentenced to death by the Palu District Court in 2001 had already used up all the legal means at their disposal.
August 12th, the execution has been postponed until, at the earliest, three days after the celebration of Independence Day on August 17th. General Sutanto of the police said this did not mean it had been cancelled and there would be no further postponements.
Continued
August 12th, demonstrations continued in Nusa Tenggara Timur despite the postponement of the executions. In Kupang, the capital of NTT, and also in Maumere, in Sikka regency, hundreds of people protested.
In Tentena the occupation of the Attorney General’s office by members of the Solidaritas Masyarakat Anti Hukuman Mati (SMAHM) ended peacefully on the 12th. Three staff members who had been taken hostage were released.
The reasons for the postponement of the execution continue to arouse controversy. On the 13th Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda denied that there was any foreign intervention in the decision to put back the carrying out of the sentences until after 17th August. He admitted that many letters had been received by the government, including one from the Pope, but that these had had no influence.
Fauzan Al Anshori of the Majelis Mujahadin, MMI, disagreed. He wondered how a country of only 75 hectares, the Vatican, could influence the largest Muslim nation on the earth, Indonesia. The government was not serious in upholding the law, he said.
The Muslim Defence Team, Tim Pembela Muslim (TPM), a group of lawyers who usually represent terrorist suspects, were also dissatisfied with the situation. Asludin Hatjani of the Central Sulawesi branch of the TPM complained that the media were portraying Tibo and Co. as if they were heroes. He wished that the sentence of death be carried out.
Security minister Widodo Adi Sucipto vowed however that the executions would still be carried out.
August 15th saw the country’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdhatul Ulama (PBNU), complain that the delay in the execution of death row convicts Tibo and co. proved that the Indonesian government was weak in carrying out legal decisions. PBNU Deputy Secretary General Syaiful Bahri Anshori said if the government did not want to be considered weak by the people, it should carry out the execution of the death-row convicts immediately, including Amrozi and the other Bali bombers, not just Tibo.
On August 16th, as president SBY was giving his state of the nation address, a member of the Partai Bulan Bintang, PBB, was heard to interject over the matter of Tibo. Later Ali Mochtar Ngabalin explained that the president had to be held to account for the delay in the executions.
August 17th, General Sutanto of the police says the three men’s executions will not be postponed again. The time and place of the executions is not yet known.
Update, 19th September, 2006
Their executions are now set for September 21st.
47 Comments on “Tibo Execution”
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Shanthan says:
Amran, I am interested to hear your side. What makes you so convinced that Tibo was the ring leader?
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Bradlymail says:
Heng welcome to this forum! I describe myself as a ‘secular Muslim’. I have children, I will never ever teach my children to hate people surrounding them, whether they come from other races or religions. Thanks for your opinion.
Amran why this thing happened? Because your community never trusts each other!
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I’m Tommy, an Indonesian a Moslem.
My Brothers and Sisters, of all faith.
There’s something missing in our dialogue in this forum. And that is… Neutrality.To my fellows Christian…
I can respectfully understand why my Christian brothers are so angry at the execution of Tibo and friends. That shows your solidarity and your care to your fellow Christians.But Brothers… Could it be… That Tibo and friends are not the same as you think they are? Could it be… That Tibo (in someway) are responsible for the death of hundreds people in the riot? If They are responsible in some way. I think they deserve the punishment they got. Please, think as if you are one of the victim’s family. How would you now feel about Tibo and friends?
To my fellows Muslim…
I can also understand your rage and approval on Tibo’s execution. Now you feel that justice has been done, don’t you?But my beloved brothers… Could it be… That Tibo is not the one who’s responsible for the genocide? Could it be… That we condemned the wrong persons after all. If they are just as victim as the killed women and children in the riot, is it the kinda justice that we want? Please, think as if you are Tibo and you are wrongly accused. How would you feel?
I cried…Yes I did, I cried… at the moment Tibo and friends are executed. I cried for that this is not the world I dream to live in.
The world where everybody says he/she is right while he/she intendeedly does all the wrong things.The world where everybody says he love peace while he supports invasion over other’s rights of freedom.
The world where everybody says he support democracy while he never listen to others.
The world where everybody has a GOD, but he never act like he has one.
We spend too much energy to show the world that our relogion is better than other’s, but we never care whether we have accomplished what God tell us to do. That goes both to Muslims and Christians.
Tibo’s execution is not a product of faith-war. It’s a product of legal system. I don’t believe the penalty is just. But I have respect for the legal system.
The pope’s letter to President SBY to cancel Tibo’s execution make things more unreasonable.
If we release Tibo, we must also release Imam Samudra, right?
The Christians might say, No..no… Imam is guity but Tibo is not.How can you say that? Is it just because Imam bravely admited his sin while Tibo strongly denied?
I say Tibo must be killed if the court has proved him guilty. And Imam Samudra must also get the same.
It’s not a perfect world, so the best among us are those who try to make it perfect.
Brothers… If you can’t make things better, just try not to make it worse.
Some opinions I read above shows me how still narrowminded most of us are. But I appreciate my Brother Shanthan of Singapore. We can learn much from him.Prophet Muhammad PBUH said… Say only right thing, or be silent.
Something that even Pope Benedict XVI should learn about. -
Miss Indo 07 says:
For Amran. Before 2000, Poso was a peaceful place, but before 2000, my cousins and my aunt were killed, burnt in the May riots, before 2000, a lot of churches were burnt, bombed, and it’s still happening until now.
Do you agree if I tell that those things happen because of people like you?? people who always think that we, Christians, Catholics, Chinese always hate Islam and think negative about Islam?
Tibo is not a hero, but you, and I, we all don’t know the truth, if the fact is he’s not guilty, can you bring them back to life? And yet if they are guilty, is that human’s authority to kill them?
For your information, I dont hate Islam, I hate the so-called Islam, I hate fanatic people, including fanatic Christians and Catholics, I hate people who only think that their religion is the best, and other people’s religion is wrong and bad, and I hate those fake Islam, who use Islam’s name to bomb, kill, rape.
Btw. Amran, as a Muslim, dont you think it’s a shame when those culprits burn churches and shout ALLAHU AKBAR proudly and loudly at the same time? And when they rape, steal things in the riot also by shouting ALLAHU AKBAR?
As a Catholic, I’ll be very ashamed and angry if there are people burning mosque or killing by using my religion & my God’s name.
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Julita says:
Tommy Joey,
I know where you are coming from, Your emotion is working in judging everything but not the brain and the heart, no compassion. But don’t start talking about the Holy Father, he is stating something which nobody, nobody dare to express. As a proof the next day killing of the nun and riots. He was saying the truth in the past even up to now, look at the world. Shall I mention all the countries you people are causing problem to, kill, kill, kill. What we learn is to love all. Face the truth and tell your own people to behave. -
I am with you Miss Indo 07…..peace upon you !
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Tommy Joe@ I am not interested in your comment…full of rubbish. Do not compare religions and races…now we are talking about discrimination against minorities, unfair judicial system towards them! I am Muslim too.. does Indonesian Muslim really follow Prophet Muhammad’s s.a.w teaching? If they do there is no violance in this country. Please think about it. You give Prophet Muhammad s.aw a bad name.
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As an outsider looking in, I believe that its the political system that instigates racial / religious riots in Indonesia.
Correct me if I am wrong, I believe that all else being equal, meaning in an ideal world without corruption, Muslims and Christians in Indonesia will be chilling.
I believe the masses are controlled by a political and judicial system that is entrenched in corruption. Some say corruption exists in Singapore also. Some politicians in Singpaore are accused of making their family members heads of public companies, etc. Whether this is true or not, is another matter. BUT, this , is nothing like Indonesia. Political corruption in Indonesia drives Muslims against Christians, Christians against Muslims, native Indonesians against Chinese, Chinese against native Indonesians.
Granted, Indonesia is not the only place where this happens.
India is jia lat also. Hindus desecrating mosques, Muslims tearing down temples. All driven by corrupt politicians. Corrupt politicians are driven by money and power.
By ensuring the people are divided, political leaders can do whatever they want. I strongly strongly believe there can be peace in Indonesia, as long as political leaders and powerful businessmen , the military and all other people in power are strong enough to resist corruption.
I guess at the end of the day, its still the same. The people at the top of the pyramid chill and count their money. The people at the bottom fight against each other, experience tragic loss and argue over who is guilty / not guilty , who should be executed / not executed.
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Sundram welcome to this blog…like more hear from year…..excellence and thanks for your opinion.
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Zantos says:
Iam Catholic, I was Moslem, Iam proud of being Catholic now. Thanks God for gave me a new peacefull religion where there’s no hate, no negative thinking, love, and everything good. I would like to invite all of Moslem all around the world to think over and over again about following Muhammad. It is useless, He still need your prayer because of his huge sin for marrying 9 years…. I have been living in Poso for 3 years before it’s dissaster. I know much about Islam so please do not tell lie. Your first mission is to eliminate Christian and Jewish in the world….. the real terrorist is Muhamad and Islam. And Islam is not a religion. It’s a satanic….. for God Shake I know what I say………
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Ihaknt says:
Zantos,
Thanks God for gave me a new peacefull religion where there’s no hate, no negative thinking, love, and everything good….
And Islam is not a religion. It’s a satanic
You are contradicting yourself. You said all the positive things but by the end of your post you said the negative thinking…Please be consistent before you try to persuade others.
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zantos you have so many faces,great liar.You are hypocrite ! I don’t think you were Muslim before ? you are part of zionism.You are a desparado !
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Dimp says:
Hey Zantos,
If you are saying that your new religion has no hate then why are you bashing Islam and Muhammad?
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Miss Indo 07 says:
Zantos. Please don’t ruin Catholics’ name with your statement.
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Another one bites the dust……
I hope he truly understand the true meaning of Catholic values.
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Yeah! I agree with Miss Indo 07 & Dimp. Thanks!
Comment on “Tibo Execution”.
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To Amran.
Tibo was not a hero, yet, how could you be sure he;s the leader of the attack when the 14 charges against Tibo cs cannot be proved by the courts? Where’s justice?
Of course you see yourself as the right side, who doesn’t? people tend to be like that, you’re not crazy to blame the Muslim wrongdoings either.
I’m not saying the Christian are not to blame.
But the trial who sent someone (in this case 3 persons) to death without being able to prove their charges, is a flawed trial!
Even if you were from Poso, do you have the right to say you are right and those oppose you are wrong? From your perspective maybe.
Christians are as right and as wrong as Muslims in Poso.
Don’t become part of the stupid whiney people like shown in what you have written!