Everyone is familiar with the conditions of minorities in Indonesia that Christian minorities have been facing religious persecution in the country. Minorities are not granted all equal rights in Indonesia. The condition of Christians is getting worse day by day.
In yet another atrocity, a Christian pastor and Bible translator was shot dead in Indonesia during a series of deadly military shootings amid tensions between security forces and separatist groups.
The deceased was identified as Yeremia Zanambani who was known for translating the Bible into Papua’s Moni dialect. The Indonesian government said in a statement the case is being investigated that he was shot by an armed criminal group while tending his pigs in Intan Jaya in September.
The 67-year-old pastor was found dead by his wife lying face down in a pen for pigs, with gunshot wounds and his left arm nearly severed. “The findings are said to be based on the dying man’s account given to at least two witnesses before he died that he saw the soldier at the crime scene along with three or four other soldiers,”
Mohammad Choirul Anam, a Komnas HAM commissioner, stated, according to UCA News. “The death of Reverend Yeremia Zanambani was caused by a series of acts which led to an extrajudicial killing,” Anam said, adding that the pastor died from blood loss.
The head of the Papua Province Humanitarian Team for Cases of Violence Against Religious Figures, Haris Azhar, said in a press conference that TNI members had given a two-day deadline to return weapons confiscated during a separate shootout two days earlier.
“The message was accompanied by threats that if the Hitadipa district was not returned, it would be bombed,” said Azhar.
He added that soldiers had specifically sought out the pastor while he was tending to his pigs with the intent to kill him. “Immediately there was an order to ‘raise your hand!’ and the Pastor Yeremia answered with his hands raised saying that I am a ‘servant of God’,” said Azhar.
Azhar said the pastor’s shooting was carried out with standard military firearms. The Indonesian Communion of Churches has strongly condemend the murder, demanding justice for the victim’s family.
