International Herald Tribune, September 21, 2006
Indonesia executes 3, despite EU appeal
The New York Times
Published: September 21, 2006
JAKARTA Three Christian militants were executed early Friday for leading attacks on
Muslims six years ago, including a gun and machete assault on a school that left at
least 70 people dead, a police official and local media said.
The executions were carried out Friday despite a call by the European Union for
Indonesia to declare a moratorium on the death penalty, European diplomats and
Indonesian officials said.
The men were taken before a firing squad at 12:15 a.m. on Friday, said a senior police
officer who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the
press. Metro TV and SCTV had similar reports, but did not name their sources.
The case against the men has heightened tensions in the world's most populous
Muslim nation and raised questions about the role religion played in punishing those
allegedly behind the violence that swept Sulawesi Province from 1998 to 2002, killing
more than 1,000 people of both religions.
Only a handful of Muslims were convicted in the violence, all for 15 years in prison or
less.
"The European Union, along with many other like-minded countries, opposes the use
of the death penalty in all circumstances," the Finnish ambassador, Markko Niinioga,
representing the presidency of the EU, said in a letter that was delivered Wednesday
to the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "The EU finds this
punishment cruel and inhuman."
The letter was read to a journalist by a European diplomat, who did so on the
condition of anonymity because the letter has not been released publicly. An aide to
Yudhoyono confirmed that it had been received.
Yudhoyono is considered a leading contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, because of
his work in bringing about an end to the separatist war in the westernmost province of
Aceh, and European diplomats said that the executions could hurt his chances, given
the strong anti-death penalty sentiments among European governments.
Three Muslims are facing imminent execution for their role in the 2002 Bali
bombings.$@ (AP, NYT)
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