Jakarta, Indonesia - Fabianus Tibo prays each night that he will not be dragged from his cell before dawn and shoved in front of a firing squad. But the Christian militant, on death row with two others for an attack that killed at least 70 Muslims, realizes time may be running out.
Thousands of Muslims have taken to the streets to demand the Christians be killed, with some of the protesters threatening holy war if the slayings in the coastal town of Poso are not avenged. The government insists the executions will take place despite pleas for pardons and the granting of one last-minute delay already.
The case is heightening tensions in the world's most populous Muslim nation and raising questions about the role of religion in deciding punishment for sectarian violence that swept through Sulawesi province from 1998 to 2002, killing more than 1,000 people from both communities. A handful of Muslims also were sentenced for killings, but they only got jail time.
The sentences also have sparked debate about capital punishment because -- despite government denials -- many in the public see the timing of the executions as linked to death sentences for three Islamic militants convicted in the 2002 terrorist bombings on the tourist island of Bali.
Arianto Sangaji, an academic and longtime observer of the Sulawesi conflict, noted that some people believe the government, in wanting to be seen as fair to both communities, is instead ''playing lives off against each other.''
''These cases have to be resolved in a legal context and with respect to human life,'' he argued.
A panel of three judges found Tibo, 60, Marianus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42, guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks on Muslims in May 2000 -- including a gun and machete assault that killed at least 70 people who had taken refuge in an Islamic school. Muslim groups put the toll at 191.
The men -- poor farm laborers and migrants from elsewhere in Indonesia -- insist they were not the masterminds and that their 2001 trial was a sham.
''They are scapegoats,'' Tibo's 29-year-old son Robert said following a recent prison visit. He said his father, though he seemed depressed after spending nearly three weeks in isolation, still held out hope of escaping execution.
''How could a poor, illiterate farmer instigate that kind of violence, convince others to kill?'' Robert Tibo asked.
Though Indonesia's attorney general and the national police chief insist the Christian men got a fair trial, with 28 witnesses providing testimony, legal experts note that the country's judiciary is woefully corrupt and susceptible to outside influence.
''In Tibo's case, there was pressure from fundamentalists Muslims,'' said Frans Winarta, a member of the National Law Commission, noting also that the trials were held in Poso, where tensions were high and religious clashes ongoing, possibly intimidating judges, witnesses, prosecutors and the defense.
''In such a situation, the court is prone to make mistakes,'' he said, adding that Muslim mobs also reportedly gathered in front of the court ahead of the verdict, some throwing stones.
After a series of challenges to the conviction of the three Christians, a final appeal for a presidential pardon was denied in November and the execution was set for Aug. 12. But then a last-minute stay was granted after Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- though the government insists the decision was made for ''technical reasons.''
The men didn't learn until the next morning that their lives had been spared.
''They woke and wondered what had happened, why no one came to get them,'' said their lawyer, Roy Rennin. ''They looked outside their cells and saw other inmates gathering outside, some weeping for joy.''
No new date has been announced, but authorities say they expect the executions to go ahead -- despite a new request for a presidential pardon. Adding to the momentum, the Sulawesi police chief who had said the real masterminds of the attacks had yet to be caught was removed from his post.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Mahendratta, the lawyer for the three men convicted of the 2002 Bali bombings, said the government should not get sucked into a debate about the death penalty.
Mahendratta's clients admit taking part in the nightclub attacks that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. After they won a delay in their executions last month, some people suggested the government did not want to risk public anger by executing the Muslims before the Christians in a country whose 220 million population is 90 percent Islamic.
''For me it's a simple matter -- just follow the death row queue,'' Mahendratta said. ''Tibo and his friends were convicted first, so they have to be killed first.''