TUNIS – A Maltese priest is questioning whether an anonymous letter with an emblazoned swastika could be linked to the murder of a fellow Polish missionary in a gruesome act which has shocked Tunisia.
It was still unclear whether extremists were behind the killing of Fr Marek Rybinski or whether the 34-year old missionary was the victim of a botched robbery, Fr Mario Mulè Stagno told The Sunday Times yesterday.
Fr Rybinski was found dead on Friday in the garage of a Maltese mission school in the Manouba region, just six kilometres from Tunis. He had been missing for 24 hours before he was found in a store with his throat slit and a blow to the head.
The Maltese community of Salesians of Don Bosco has been responsible for the mission school for 700 children in Tunisia for more than 20 years. Two Maltese priests serve in the community – rector Fr Lawrence Essery and Fr Mulè Stagno.
On January 31, the feast of Don Bosco, the Salesians found an anonymous letter pushed under the door threatening them with death unless a sum of money was paid.
“The letter was addressed to ‘Jews’, which is very strange. It said we were being monitored, and had a swastika sign in the bottom,” Fr Mulè Stagno said. The letter was sent to the authorities, but Fr Mulè Stagno is questioning whether the threat was taken seriously. “We’re asking the media to help. It could be the work of extremists. It could be the result of a robbery gone wrong. We really don’t know,” he said.
