Jakarta, Indonesia ? Indonesian officials said Wednesday they had deployed thousands of police on Sulawesi island ahead of this week’s planned executions of three Christian men found guilty of leading deadly attacks on Muslims six years ago.

Amid complaints that the men did not receive a fair trial, a top Christian leader urged his community not to resort to violence and to pray that the president would grant them a last-minute reprieve. Government officials, lawyers and priests said the convicts would face a firing squad today or early Friday.

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 Sulawesi province from 1998 to 2002, killing more than 1,000 people from both communities.

Thousands of Muslims have taken to the streets in recent weeks demanding the three men be put to death, while Christians have rallied for their lives to be spared.