Christian trio facing firing squad

3位基督教信徒面临死刑

Three Christians convicted for their roles in deadly attacks on Muslims in 2000 in central Indonesia will be executed on Thursday, media reports quoted the men's lawyer as saying.

3位被证明在2000年印度尼西亚中部对穆斯林信徒发动致命袭击的基督教徒将在周四被执行死刑，媒体在报道中引用被告律师的话说。

Attorney Roy Bening said the men had received a letter from prosecutors stating they would be shot by firing squad on September 21 in Palu on the island of Sulawesi, Media Indonesia and other media reported Tuesday.

检察官洛伊·贝宁证实这几个人已经接到了来自行刑队的信，信上说他们将在9月21日在苏拉威西岛的帕鲁被执行枪决。周二印尼传媒和其他媒体都报道了这一消息。

The three, who maintain they are innocent, were scheduled to be killed last August, but were granted a last-minute reprieve amid protests by Christian groups and an appeal for clemency by Pope Benedict.

3人原定在8月底被枪决人，但他们一直声称自己无罪。由于基督教组织的抗议和现任教皇本尼迪克特要求宽恕的请求，3人被允许缓期执行。

Authorities were not immediately available for comment.

警方没有对此进行评论。

Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva were found guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks on Muslims in May 2000 on Sulawesi——including a gun and machete assault that killed at least 70 people who had taken refuge in an Islamic school.

法比卢斯·提伯，马力卢斯·利乌，多米加斯·达·西尔瓦被判决主使基督教武装分子在2000年5月在苏拉威西岛发动了一系列针对穆斯林的武装袭击，其中包括一次持枪和弯刀对在一所伊斯兰学校避难的人群发动的袭击，这次袭击造成了至少70人死亡。

The incident was one of the bloodiest in two years of fighting between Muslim and Christian gangs that killed at least 1,000 people from both faiths and left tens of thousand homeless.

这一事件是两年中穆斯林和基督教武装陷入争斗以来所发生的血案中的一起。这些争斗至少造成了双方1000人死亡，上万人流离失所。

Only a handful of people have been convicted in the violence, and the three Christians are the only ones to be sentenced to death. Investigations into the bloodshed, which ended after a government-sponsored peace deal, appear to have ended.

只有少数人因为暴力冲突被判有罪，而这3位基督教徒是唯一被判处死刑的。政府领导的和平计划结束了流血冲突，对这些事件的调查也日趋结束。

Local Islamic hardliners are calling for the three men to be executed.

当地的穆斯林强硬派要求执行三人的死刑判决。

But Christian groups say the men——uneducated farmers originally not from Sulawesi island——are being made scapegoats.

但是，基督教团体说这些人只是做了替罪羊，他们仅仅是一些没有受过教育的农民，本身也不是来自于苏拉威西岛。

Amnesty International has raised doubts about the fairness of the men's trials.

国际特赦组织怀疑对3人审判的公正性。

Three Muslim militants are also on death row for their roles in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

穆斯林武装分子同样也在死囚犯的名单上，他们是因为参与了2002年巴里岛夜总会爆炸案。

Analysts have said that the government in the world's most populous Islamic nation would find it politically difficult to pardon the Christians while pressing ahead with the executions of the Muslims.

分析人士说，作为世界上穆斯林人口最多的国家，印尼政府发现，面对穆斯林不断施压，要宽恕基督教徒在政治很困难。

More than 80 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people are Muslims, but there are significant Christian minorities. In Sulawesi and some other eastern regions, Christian and Muslim populations are roughly equal.

穆斯林在印尼2亿2千万人口中有超过了80%，但是基督教也是非常重要的少数民族。在苏拉威西和其他东部地区，基督教和穆斯林教人口比例大约相差无几。

Indonesia has executed at least five people since 2000 for various crimes, mostly drugs offenses.

自2000年以来，印尼政府已经处决了至少5名罪犯，主要是毒贩。(外语教育网 王郅译)