A group of priests, nuns and activists in Indonesia staged protest marches on March 6 in support of a crusader-priest being grilled by police in a defamation case filed against him.
In rallies held in two locations in Christian-majority East Nusa Tenggara province, a hotbed of human trafficking in Indonesia, they called on police to drop a libel case against Father Chrisanctus Paschalis Saturnus, filed by Bambang Panji Prianggodo, deputy head of the State Intelligence Agency in Riau Islands province, bordering Singapore and Malaysia.
"Criminalization of humanitarian fighters," they said about the case filed against Father Saturnus, chairman of the Migrant and Overseas Pastoral Peace Justice Commission of Pangkalpinang Diocese, who earlier accused Prianggodo of backing human traffickers.
Sister Laurentina Suharsih, an activist nun from the Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence, who took part in the rally in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara's capital and largest city, told UCA News, "I am deeply hurt by this criminalization."
Saturnus had written to advocacy organizations, informing them of the smuggling of workers through ports. The priest's letter alleged the involvement of a number of parties, including government officials like Prianggodo.
Saturnus alleged that Priyanggodo's intervention resulted in perpetrators being released by police in one case to which he was a party.
Subsequently, Priyanggodo filed a libel suit against the priest. The rallies were held as police quizzed him for the first time in the case.
"Father Paschal [Saturnus] voiced a prophetic voice, the truth. Is it appropriate for him to be criminalized?" Suharsih said.
She said that together with Saturnus, she was part of a team at the Indonesian bishops' conference helping trafficking victims and migrant workers.
"So, if my comrades in arms are wronged, I will definitely join in speaking out the truth," said the nun who is known as 'Sister Cargo' for helping repatriate hundreds of corpses of illegal migrant workers mostly from Malaysia since 2017.
She said they staged a rally in Kupang because Saturnus helped many human trafficking victims from this province who were smuggled via Batam, the largest city in the Riau Islands, to Malaysia.
Divine Word Father Otto Gusti Madung, head of the Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology in Maumere, Sikka district, asked, "How can a humanitarian fighter be criminalized and a person suspected of committing human trafficking crimes be allowed to go free?"
"On this basis, we are taking action to show solidarity with the struggle of Father Paschal [Saturnus] and the human trafficking victims," he added.
On March 5, more than 100 priests, nuns and activists launched an online petition, urging President Joko Widodo to intervene in the case.
The petition via the change.org website has received more than 7,000 signatures, including that of leaders from several religious congregations.
Saturnus and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comments by UCA News as did Franciscan Bishop Adrianus Sunarko of Pangkalpinang.
Source: https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesian-priests-defamation-case-sparks-protests/10058