The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Groups of Christians, angered by the overnight executions of three Catholic convicts, torched cars and government buildings in East Nusa Tenggara cities Friday.
In Maumere, where one of the executed men, Dominggus da Silva, 42, was born, hundreds of protesters vandalized several government offices, including the local district court and legislative council building. They demanded that Dominggus' body be sent to Maumere for burial.
Dominggus, Fabianus Tibo, 60, and Marinus Riwu, 48, were found guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks in Central Sulawesi in May 2000 -- including a machete and gun assault on an Islamic school where scores of men were seeking shelter.
The three -- known as the Poso 3 -- were led before a firing squad just south of Central Sulawesi's provincial capital Palu at 1:45 a.m. Friday, said I Wayan Pasek Suartha, a spokesman for the attorney general. Their bodies were examined by a team of doctors minutes later, who officially declared them dead.
Thousands also rallied in Atambua, blockading roads and attacking a court, prosecutor's office and other government buildings, according to AFP.
More than 200 inmates escaped after mobs attacked a jail in Atambua, sending guards fleeing to the nearby jungle.
Elsewhere in the country, protesters blocked roads and set buildings on fire.
Palu was largely calm Friday amid increased security. Thousands of police stood on street corners and guarded markets and churches, watching as some 1,000 mourners packed the St. Maria's church to take part in a requiem.
But violence flared in the villages of Tentena and Lage, where hundreds of people, went on a rampage of torching cars and police posts.
Human rights workers say the men's trial was a sham, and that while it was possible the trio took part in some of the bloodshed, they were not the masterminds.
The case has sparked debate about the role religion played in punishing those who participated in violence that swept the Sulawesi province from 1998 to 2002, killing more than 1,000 people from both faiths.
Only a handful of Muslims were convicted, none for more than 15 years in prison.
Din Syamsuddin, chairman of second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, asked the public not to associate the execution with religion because it was a purely legal matter.
"There is nothing that we can do except to respect the court verdict," Din said on the sidelines of a seminar in Jakarta on Friday.
He added that he fully supported capital punishment.
"It provides a deterrent effect on criminals, as well as giving a sense of security to people in general," he was quoted as saying by detikcom news portal.
House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono asked people to accept the verdict as the carrying out of the law.
"We have to respect the law. Through the entire legal process it was stated that Tibo and friends were guilty," he told detikcom.
Other politicians criticized the government for shifting the responsibility for dealing with the angry public reaction to local administrations.
Jacobus Mayongpadang from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said he was disappointed by the Attorney General's Office. It said it was only an instrument for carrying out the sentence, and it was up to religious figures to enlighten the people about the verdict.
"It's not right. The government should be responsible and anticipate the possibility of unrest," he said.
Immanuel Blegur from the Golkar party said the government seemed taken by surprise by the reaction.
"I hope there will be more justice in the legal process in the future, so that the people's conscience will not be disturbed," said the former legislator from East Nusa Tenggara.
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