Text 19667, 58 rader
Skriven 2011-06-02 09:50:36 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 19612 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555.1)
Ärende: Mladic
==============
Michiel van der Vlist wrote to All on Wednesday June 01 2011 at 16:33:

MV>> Justice will be done.

Will it? Try asking some of the relatives of the people murdered by him and his
soldiers.

MV> .. not by execution on the spot, but by a fair trial.

He's certainly getting more than he gave, and any punishment he receives will
be a slap on the hand in comparison to his crimes. But that's the modern
method.

It applies in Germany, too. Let a couple of 16-18 year olds attack someone at a
bus station or a subway for no particular reason except that the "are boiling
mad", let them injure the person so badly that he not only has to be treated
for months in a hospital, but has permanent disabilities from the beating - and
what happens?

The police arrest the culprits, identified on CCTV cameras, register their
identities, presumably fingerprint them - and send them home. Maybe in months
to years they'll get a couple of years (suspended sentence, naturally), and
that's "justice" German-style.

Don't believe it? We've had several cases of stuff like this in the last two
years, and they all end the same.

On the other hand, if you _really_ want to land in jail, all you have to do is
cheat on your income tax, or even worse cheat on the VAT tax. If the amount is
large enough - around a million will do - the government will have you behind
bars for a minimum of two years (and no suspended sentence either) before you
can blink an eye.

Did I already mention that the _maximum_ sentence for _murder_ (not
manslaughter or assault with deadly result or whatever euphemism legal eagles
use to weasel out of saying "murder") for persons under 18 (one day is enough)
at the time of the crime is 10 years?

Not bad, eh... they say that's why immigrant (usually muslim) families who want
a daughter killed to "restore their honor" generally have an underage member of
the family (brother, cousin) do the job. No problem, even 10 years isn't too
bad at that age and after all, the family is behind you all the way.

The idea is to "resocialize" criminals, rather than to punish them (unless, of
course, they cheat the government, which is worse than murder).

Oh yes, Mladic will get a fair trial - a great deal fairer than he ever gave
anyone else, and we all will pay the millions required to carry it out.

The only question is whether justice is _really_ served by such spectacles.

You'll doubtless say yes. My opinion is more direct and a good deal less
forgiving.

Cheers, Bob

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