Palu – Lawyers for three Indonesian Christians on death row say the Supreme Court had exceeded its authority by refusing to process their second demand for presidential clemency.
Lawyer Roy Rening said that the local district court in Palu, Central Sulawesi, had informed the team of lawyers that the Supreme Court declined to forward a second demand for a presidential pardon.
"The Supreme Court has certainly exceeded its authority and we will prepare legal moves against this," Rening told AFP.
He did not give further details on the plan but said that the Supreme Court's duty was only to make recommendations to the president on a demand for clemency, not hinder it.
"The court should only forward the demand and accompany it with their recommendation. Only the president has the authority to decide on whether to grant or refuse clemency," Rening said.
The three – Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marianus Riwu – were convicted in 2001 of inciting violence against Muslims in religiously-divided Central Sulawesi, but their case has been widely criticised for being unfair.
The president has already refused them clemency and they had been due to face the firing squad on August 12 until they were given a last minute reprieve. Officials have said their executions may now take place at any time.
Meanwhile about 30 protesters from several Islamic groups staged a small protest Wednesday urging officials in Palu to execute the trio immediately.
They also urged authorities to arrest Reverend Reynaldi Damanik, head of the Protestant church synod in Central Sulawesi, for allegedly making statements that could fuel further unrest in the region.
Christians across the country have held protests to demand that the death sentences on the three are not be carried out, saying that their trial had been unfair.
Clashes between Muslims and Christians in 2000 and 2001 in Central Sulawesi province left more than 1,000 dead. A government-brokered peace accord at the end of 2001 largely ended widespread unrest, but intermittent violence has persisted.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated nation but Christians and Muslims live in roughly equal numbers in parts of Sulawesi.