Arrest Made in Murder of SDB Priest

Arrest Made in Murder of SDB Priest

This story comes from ANS, dated Feb. 22.

The Tunisian police have arrested Chokri Ben Mustapha Bel-Sadek El-Mestiri, suspected of being the one who murdered Fr. Marek Rybinbski. He was a handyman working at the Salesian school in Manouba and is believed to have killed Fr. Rybinski because he could not repay a sum of money.

The arrest was reported by the Tunisian authorities Monday evening, February 21.

Inquiries indicated that El-Mestiri, a 44-year-old Tunisian employed as a handyman at the Salesian school in Manouba, had received a sum of 2,000 dinars, about 1,000 euros ($1,350), three months ago from Fr. Rybinski, to buy material for some maintenance work to be done in the school. He did not purchase the material, however, and afraid of being found out, killed Fr. Rybinski.

According to the official inquiry, the circumstances of the crime indicate that on the day of the murder, the accused asked Fr. Rybinski to go to the storeroom in which the body was eventually found. The killer took the Salesian by surprise and stabbed him in the back of the neck and in the throat, causing his death.

The Tunisian minister of the interior, denouncing the cowardly attack, expressed his own appreciation for the fact that there was no sign of any political or religious involvement in the crime.

Salesian Murdered in Tunisia

Salesian Murdered in Tunisia

The Salesian news agency in Rome, ANS, reports:

Fr. Marek Rybinski, a young Polish missionary in Manouba, Tunisia, was found dead, his throat cut, on Friday morning, February 18, in the Salesian school there. The motive is not known.

The other 2 confreres of the community had seen Fr. Marek the previous day around 10:00 a.m. Since he wasn’t at Evening Prayer that day or at Mass on the 18th, Fr. Lawrence Essery, the director, became alarmed. When he did not find Fr. Rybinski in his room, he contacted the local police. They arrived shortly afterward and began a search. His body was found in a storeroom.

Fr. Marek is the second religious to be found dead in the recent period of social unrest, which saw a revolution overturn the government.

At 9:30 a.m. on the 17th, Fr. Rybinski spoke by phone to Sr. Eva Siuda at the Salesian Mission Office in Warsaw and asked her to send a fax confirming that a sum of money had been transferred – transferred in fact in December. The local bank was causing difficulties for the release of the money.

On January 31 the Salesians in Manouba found an anonymous letter pushed under their door threatening them with death unless they paid protection money. The police have not given their official opinion about the motive for this -- possibly theft or religious fundamentalism.

Fr. Rybinski, 33, originally from the Warsaw Province, was ordained in May 2005. In September 2007 he arrived in Manouba, where he became community treasurer.

“Fr. Marek was extremely efficient, and through his contacts with the Polish Missions Office, where he had worked before his arrival in Tunisia, he was able to help to finance various projects for the good of the school,” Fr. Essery told ANS in a message.

The archbishop of Tunis had made Fr. Marek chaplain to the Polish community, and he spent a lot of time preparing the youngsters for Confirmation.

On the evening of February 18 Archbishop Maroun Elias Nimeh Lahham of Tunis presided at a Mass for Fr. Rybinski in the cathedral.

As soon as he heard the news, the Rector Major, Fr. Pascual Chavez, expressed his consternation and sorrow.

The Salesian school and community in Manouba is sponsored by the Irish SDB province, to which it belongs.