Christians executed in Indonesia, while Moslems given prison time.

[Joeaksa]

Three Christians are executed in Indonesia (a moslem country) for their part in a riot where muslims were killed, while moslems in the same situation were given 15 years in prison.

Anyone see a problem here? Its very interesting that the top article, from CNN, tells about the moslems receiving only 15 years in prison, while the lower article, from the area somehow does not mention this issue. Very interesting, another case of the news outlets trying to adjust the news to fit what they want to report.


http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/21/indonesia.executions.ap/index.html

Riots follow Indonesia executions
POSTED: 1:37 a.m. EDT, September 22, 2006

PALU, Indonesia (AP) -- Three Christian militants were executed by firing squad Friday for leading attacks on Muslims six years ago that left at least 70 people dead, setting off fresh sectarian clashes on restive Sulawesi island, police said.

Mobs torched cars and police posts in several villages before security forces restored order, said Maj. Rudy Sufahriyadi, police chief in the town of Poso. Elsewhere they torched a prison, freeing scores of inmates, blockaded roads, and looted Muslim-owned shops and restaurants.

On the island of Flores, the executed men's birthplace, machete-wielding mobs ran through the streets, sending women and children running in panic.

"We understand that some people are disappointed and sad to hear their brothers were executed," Sufahriyadi said. "It's normal, but we will not tolerate any anarchist acts that may worsen the situation."

The men were taken before the firing squad at 12:15 a.m. (2:15 p.m. EDT Thursday), said a senior police officer who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Family members later said they had received confirmation of their deaths.

Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42, were found guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks in May 2000.

The bodies of Tibo and Riwu were flown back to their village of Beteleme, in Central Sulawesi's Morowalai district, for burial, said Central Sulawesi police spokesman Lt. Col. Muhamad Kilat. The body of Da Silva, who came from faraway Flores island, was buried overnight in the provincial capital of central Sulawesi province, Palu.

In carrying out the death sentence, Indonesia ignored an appeal last month by Pope Benedict XVI to spare the men. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told the Italian news agency ANSA that news of the execution "was very sad and painful."

The case against the three had 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 men told relatives and a priest during final prayers at their jail Thursday that they were innocent but ready to die.

Fearing violence timed to the executions, Indonesia deployed more than 2,000 police and soldiers in Palu, some guarding churches that dot the city.

Palu, where the executions took place, was largely calm, with thousands of police standing on street corners and guarding markets and churches, watching as some 1,000 mourners filed into St. Maria's church early Friday to take part in a requiem.

"My father begged us not to be angry, not to seek revenge," Tibo's son, Robert, told Christian followers after the morning prayers. "He asked us to forgive those who did this to him. God blesses all of us, he said."

But violence flared in the Sulawesi villages of Tentena and Lage, where hundreds of people went on a rampage after learning of the deaths. And thousands rallied in East Nusatenggara province, home to many Roman Catholics in the country's far east, blockading roads and burning buildings.

The executions came amid an outcry in many Muslim nations about comments made by the pope on Islam. The pontiff last week cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman." He has since said he was "deeply sorry" about the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions.

The condemned men had said they hoped investigations into the clashes would continue, noting that they had provided authorities with the names of 16 Christians who allegedly instigated some of the worst bloodshed.

The government says its probe is complete.

"It's useless for me to say anything now," said Tibo's son early Friday. "The government never listened to him when he was alive. They ignored everything.
Trial a 'sham'

Human rights workers say the men's 2001 trial was a sham, and that while it was possible the men took part in some of the violence, they almost certainly were not the masterminds.

Others said crowds of Muslim hardliners gathered at the court during the hearings, likely intimidating judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses.

"The men's lawyers received death threats, including a bomb planted at one lawyer's house and demonstrators armed with stones outside the courthouse demanded that the three be sentenced to death," said Isabelle Cartron of London-based Amnesty International.

Indonesia is a secular nation with the world's largest number of Muslims, about 190 million. In Sulawesi and several other eastern regions, Christian and Muslim populations are roughly equal.

Though violence in Sulawesi largely ended with the signing of a peace deal in 2002, there have been isolated incidents of violence since then, most blamed on Islamic militants.

[Joeaksa]

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/9/22/worldupdates/2006-09-22T103058Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-268728-3&sec=Worldupdates

Indonesia executes 3 Christians over Muslim deaths
By Crack Palinggi

PALU, Indonesia (Reuters) - Three Christian militants convicted of leading a mob that killed Muslims were executed by an Indonesian police firing squad early on Friday amidst tight security in Central Sulawesi province, police said.

Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu and Dominggus Silva had been sentenced to death in 2001, after being found guilty of leading a Christian mob in an attack that killed more than 200 people at an Islamic boarding school during Muslim-Christian clashes in the Poso region of Central Sulawesi.

Indonesian Catholics cover their mouths as they gather outside the Cathedral Church in Makassar in Central Sulawesi province to protest and pray for three Christians who faced a firing squad September 22, 2006. The three Christians, convicted of leading a mob that killed Muslims, were executed by a firing squad early on Friday. (REUTERS/Ahmed Tawil)
The convicts' priest, Jimmy Tumbelaka, said they had been officially declared dead at 3 a.m. (2000 GMT Thursday), although police officials said the actual execution was hours earlier.

"According to valid information I received they were shot in a sitting position with their hands tied. Two were blindfolded while Marianus Riwu refused to be blindfolded," Tumbelaka told Reuters.

The bodies of Tibo and Riwu were flown to their home town while Silva was buried in the provincial capital, Palu, where the executions took place, police spokesman Muhammad Kilat said.

The trio had originally been scheduled to die in August but the executions were postponed after demonstrations by thousands of Indonesians and an appeal from Pope Benedict.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of the world's most populous Muslim nation, rejected the men's appeals for a pardon last year. They had appealed again for clemency last month.

Authorities turned down a request for their bodies to be laid out in the Santa Maria church in Palu, Tumbelaka said.

"We are disappointed they didn't get a proper religious service and customary rites," he said.

Hundreds of Christians had begun praying for the convicted men at Santa Maria late on Thursday. A heavy police presence at the church was reinforced after the executions, to include personnel from paramilitary mobile brigade units.

Bishop Joseph Suwatan, whose diocese oversees North and Central Sulawesi, urged the faithful in Palu to remain calm, as the sound of Koranic verses blared from loudspeakers in a nearby mosque ahead of Muslim Friday prayers.

Separately, thousands of Christians took to the streets of Atambua in West Timor to vent their anger over the executions, Antara news agency reported.

The protesters threw rocks at the local prosecutors' office and houses near the town's market, Antara said.

SECURITY FORCES DEPLOYED

About 4,000 police and soldiers had been deployed in Palu "to anticipate any untoward incidents", police spokesman Kilat said earlier this week.

Human rights groups had urged Indonesia not to proceed with the executions.

Isabelle Carton, South East Asia researcher at Amnesty International, said on Friday: "We are deeply disappointed that despite the debate on the death penalty that the case had sparked across Indonesia, the state went ahead and killed these three men."

Muslim-Christian clashes rocked Central Sulawesi from late 1998 to 2001, killing an estimated 2,000 before a peace accord took effect. There has been sporadic violence since.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, three Islamic militants are on death row for their leading roles in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

The attorney-general's office said on Aug. 21 their executions would be delayed for a judicial review planned by defence lawyers.

There have been suggestions that executing the Bali bombers would be less likely to stir unrest or political fallout if they were put to death after the three Christians, but one analyst rejected the notion of a link.

"In the Poso case religious sentiments are very strong while in the Bali case we don't see that phenomenon. There are no Islamic groups demanding that the Bali bombers not be executed," said Azyumardi Azra, Islamic scholar and rector of the State Islamic University in Jakarta.

Around 85 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people follow Islam, but some areas in eastern Indonesia have roughly equal proportions of Muslims and Christians.

[IROC]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
"Indonesia is a secular nation with the world's largest number of Muslims, about 190 million. In Sulawesi and several other eastern regions, Christian and Muslim populations are roughly equal."

"Worlds largest number of Muslims" and "secular nation" doesn't belong in the same sentence. The disappointing thing is that these articles point out the fact that religious nutcases are killing each other. What a waste.

Mike

[Jeff Higgins]

Pope Calls for Violence in Wake of Christian Executions

Vatican City, Rome (Higgins)
The Pope, in the wake of the "unwarrented and unjust" executions of "peacefull" Christians in Indonesia, called today for his followers around the world to take to the streets in protest. "We are a religion of peace, and the world must understand that" explained the Pope. "This is, however, an insult to Christianity that cannot be ignored. We will have our justice."

Christians are expected today to step up their suicide bombings on mosques and convenience stores around the world, escalating a pattern of insurgent violence targeted at their Muslim neighbors. Christian insurgents have been observed targeting Muslim neighborhoods with indiscriminate rocket fire, provoking a response from U.N. peacekeeping forces.

"We will provide troops to these hot spots as they are identified", said a U.N. spokeman. "We will ensure that none of these insurgents are harmed in their efforts; we will track and report immediately all Muslim resistance to these attacks, updating our website hourly."

Christian leaders in the United States, England, and Europe declined to comment the Pope's statements other than to re-iterate that they are "a religion of peace".

[dhoward]

[Jim Richards]

+1

[chibone_914]

This is highly unusual because christians do not riot against anyone. (at least I don't riot against anyone here) Christians are also being persecuted in Egypt, Turkey and China. But the liberal media fails to cover this as it is not news worthy in their opinion. How can you convict, and execute someone for distributing bibles? (china) or get beaten and spat on by an angry mob while the local police look on doing nothing to stop the attacks (indonesia).....If that is a terrorist act against the state........

Nowhere in the bible does it state that christians should go after and hurt, maim or kill non-christians.

Now I cannot say the same for the koran, at least the version being read in the rest of the world.

[Jim Richards]

uhh, I think it was parody of the peaceful Muslim reaction to the Pope's controversial speech.

[Dottore]

Originally posted by IROC
"Worlds largest number of Muslims" and "secular nation" doesn't belong in the same sentence. The disappointing thing is that these articles point out the fact that religious nutcases are killing each other. What a waste.

Mike

Actually "worlds largest number of Muslims" and "secular nation" does belong in the same sentence - and you should be glad it does.

Indonesia has tried very hard to be religiously tolerant, to seperate mosque and state and to remain a secular state. It was able to do so successfully for many years because of strong dictators (Sukarno followed by Suharto) who for all their faults at least had the vision to realize that religious extremism and theocracies are very bad ideas.

Yes there are nutbars in Indonesia (where aren't there?) but these have always been a very, very small minority - that used to be kept very closely in check.

The average Indonesian is not fundamentalist. He is Muslim largely in name.

Indonesia's problem is that, like Iraq, it is comprised of numerous ethnic groups that have been randomly and unhappily combined to form one nation. This kind of mix only works when you have a strong government that can keep a lid on things.

Since Suharto was toppled, Indonesia has been plagued by a succession of weak and ineffectual leaders, and guess what? Dissent in the form of religious extremism exported from the middle east is slowly gaining ground there.

While a very, very different place from Iraq - the patterns are omninously similar. Or, as Mark Twain once said, "history doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes".

In some countries a strong dictator committed to a secular government is what is required in order to avoid a descent into tribalism, civil war and eventually a brutal, backward theocracy. We are learning this lesson in Iraq.

[IROC]

Originally posted by Dottore
Actually "worlds largest number of Muslims" and "secular nation" does belong in the same sentence - and you should be glad it does.

I stand corrrected! Good info.

Mike

[kach22i]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
Pope Calls for Violence in Wake of Christian Executions

Vatican City, Rome (Higgins)
The Pope, in the wake of the "unwarrented and unjust" executions of "peacefull" Christians in Indonesia, called today for his followers around the world to take to the streets in protest. "We are a religion of peace, and the world must understand that" explained the Pope. "This is, however, an insult to Christianity that cannot be ignored. We will have our justice."

Christians are expected today to step up their suicide bombings on mosques and convenience stores around the world, escalating a pattern of insurgent violence targeted at their Muslim neighbors. Christian insurgents have been observed targeting Muslim neighborhoods with indiscriminate rocket fire, provoking a response from U.N. peacekeeping forces.

"We will provide troops to these hot spots as they are identified", said a U.N. spokeman. "We will ensure that none of these insurgents are harmed in their efforts; we will track and report immediately all Muslim resistance to these attacks, updating our website hourly."

Christian leaders in the United States, England, and Europe declined to comment the Pope's statements other than to re-iterate that they are "a religion of peace".

Good one.

[Blanco]

Nope. Money talks.


http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=2790

Dallas Austin Pardoned for Drug Charges, Headed Back to U.S.

Grammy Award–winning producer Dallas Austin reportedly left the middle eastern nation of Dubai on Wednesday morning (July 5) and is en route to the United States. Austin was sentenced to four years in prison for possessing 1.26 grams of cocaine, but received a full pardon from Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, just hours later. According to the Gulf News, he was then deported from the country. Austin was detained on May 19 upon his arrival in Dubai and spent nearly two months incarcerated since his arrest.

[kach22i]

Originally posted by Blanco
Nope. Money talks.


http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=2790

I bet Austin had to promise to mail back two blonde virgins.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
uhh, I think it was parody of the peaceful Muslim reaction to the Pope's controversial speech.

Excuse me? This is no joke. Three men were taken out back and shot in the head, while the moslems sit in prison and get three square meals and a place to sleep for 15 years.

Hope you enjoyed a good laugh over this but the men's families for some reason do not feel the same...

[Jim Richards]

Hmmm, another person with a reading disorder.

The quote Joe posted of mine refers to chibone_914's post in response to Jeff Higgins' post that parodied the crazy reaction of supposedly peaceful Muslims. Slow down and read more carefully.

[dhoward]

Cocktail time....

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Jim Richards
Hmmm, another person with a reading disorder.

The quote Joe posted of mine refers to chibone_914's post in response to Jeff Higgins' post that parodied the crazy reaction of supposedly peaceful Muslims. Slow down and read more carefully.

Reading disorder my a$$, more like a writers block. There was nothing in the post to direct it to any specific reply and this is not exactly a joke thread.

Next time quote or direct it towards a post or risk the possibility of someone feeling that its meant for the entire thread.

[Jim Richards]

I really think I should ridicule you for your posts here, Joe, but any casual reading of your posts will do the job for me.

[livi]

Wonder how it is that so much outrageous violence all threw history is connected to religion. The Pope himself was no saint in Europe centuries ago. Currently it would seem most atrocities are linked to Islam.

And they all preach piece and understanding...what a load of crap.