(ANS – Tunis) – Chokri Ben Mustapha Bel Sadek Mesteri, the 45 year-old carpenter accused of murdering Fr Marek Rybinski, sdb, (1977-2011), has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the judicial authorities in Tunisia. Fr Rybinski, a missionary of Polish origin, was found with his throat cut, on 18 February 2011 in a storeroom at the Salesian school in Manouba.

The sentence was passed on Friday last. As indicated by Fides News Agency, the process took time because in recent months, following the defence process outlined by his lawyers, the condemned man had tried to retract earlier admission of guilt, saying that his confession had been extracted under pressure.

Fr Rybinski was killed for a trivial question of money. The killer had asked him for a loan of two thousand Tunisian dinars (about 1000 euro) to buy work materials for a job he had been commissioned to complete. But he had spent the money on other things. The Salesian had then asked him to give back the monies which belonged to the school. At that point the carpenter had attacked the priest striking him repeatedly and violently with a blunt object around the head and neck.

Just these days, the result of the so-called “jasmine revolution” remains uncertain and Tunisia continues to be shaken by protests and clashes between police and demonstrators. In such an atmosphere of violence the Polish priest's killer has fueled concerns regarding the lot of Christians in an Arab world where earlier checks and balances have begun to falter.

Published 09/01/2013