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.