Relatives of three beheaded girls up pressure for justice
Relatives of three beheaded girls up pressure for justice
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Friends and relatives of the three schoolgirls beheaded late last
month by masked assailants in Poso, Central Sulawesi, arrived
here on Monday and went straight to the House of Representatives
to demand that legislators support all efforts to make sure the
perpetrators of the grisly murders were caught.
"We ask security personnel to get serious about investigating
the case," said the group's spokesman, David Malewa, whose
younger sister Noviana Malewa survived the attack despite serious
slash wounds.
"We are not going to take revenge and have already forgiven
the people responsible for the deaths of our daughters and
sisters. But can't the state give us a little justice?" he
beseeched.
The three Christian girls were beheaded on Oct. 29, five days
ahead of Idul Fitri as they were on their way to school in Poso.
Just over a week after that attack, two female students --
Ivon Maganti, 17, and Siti Nuraini, 17, -- were victims of a
drive-by shooting by unidentified men while sitting in front of a
house. They are in still in critical condition at Poso Kota
General Hospital.
David, along with a dozen other friends and relatives of the
three schoolgirls -- Theresia Morangke, 15, Alfita Poliwo, 17,
and Yarni Sambue, 15, -- visited the legislative complex in
response to an open invitation to join a Pray-for-the-Nation
event held on Monday.
During their stay in Jakarta, they will also meet leaders of
several religious organizations, including the Indonesian
Communion of Churches (PGI), and several foreign representatives
from neighboring countries, such as Australia.
Their demands for justice increased after local security
officers released five men, including a former military police
officer, who had earlier been detained on suspicion of
involvement in the triple murder, due to what was claimed to be a
lack of evidence against the five.
Religious leaders have repeatedly preached to their followers
that the incident had nothing to do with religion, which was
apparently the trigger of the orgy of sectarian violence in Poso
during 2000 and 2001.
Recently, intelligence agents blamed the presence of terrorist
cells in the religiously divided town for the renewed violence.
"If the police fail to find the girls' killers, we will file a
legal complaint against the police," said David.