Justice! Delayed, denied and deceased

Death is a spoiler

The shock and sadness of it all - death interrupts human proceedings as they slothfully grind the rigid wheels of justice, the frailty of man intervenes leaving others with a sense of greater loss.

A few months ago, Slobodan Milosevic departed the land of the living whilst he waited to be adjudged and sentenced, now, for all the damage caused by the collapse of Enron - Mr Kenneth Lay is now of blessed memory - much as many would prefer that he be of accursed memory.

Both men died of heart attacks, and it is time for the people that work in the Justice industry to realise that the calamity of being charged for crimes that people protest their innocence to, does have far reaching effects than the protestations.

The people deteriorate daily and eventually expire, there is a thin line between defiance and despondency in those situations and many have crossed that line unawares and left things unsettled.

Mr Lay, may have left a legacy of the biggest fraudulent and corrupt scandal un US corporate history, but he will not more see the endless jousting of lawyers who fight by the week but charge by the second.

How are the mighty fallen and how blighted the future of the many who lost to the creativeness of Mr Kenneth Lay.

All eyes now turn to Mr Skilling, he will need more than the force to be with him.

A rest but no arrests

The dead bury the dead

When Jesus said let the dead bury their dead, one can be forgiven for not fully understanding the import of that statement.

There is however a whole mine of wisdom in that saying of which I might just be able to mine a gem or two. I can safely say we are moving one from the cult of the dead and are just fascinated by the Egyptology and the pyramids.

The great discovery announced a few weeks ago is not a king’s burial chamber but the preparation room for embalmment.

Sometime ago, I offered advice to a couple one of whom had to fulfil a set number of years or residency as part of resolving an immigration issue. Having lost his father, there was the compelling reason to go and bury his father as one would in Africa.

However, fulfilling that would mean losing the relationship and a possible loss of the right to return. So, some inspiration came to me in the guise of having the man parcel some sand to be poured over the grave in Africa on burial.

This would fulfil the ceremony of pouring sand on the coffin at burial and this the ability to continue sojourning here till the days are fulfilled for gaining the entitlement to the right of abode.

In context, one should not sacrifice one’s future well-being in satisfying the traditions of burying the dead.

Duties done

So, we see that Slobodan Milosevic was laid to rest in his village on Saturday without his son or widow attending. As it transpired, the suspension of the arrest order in Yugoslavia allowing them to attend Milosevic’s funeral had ropes attached.

The son did visit the Netherlands to collect the body but did not travel with his father’s body to Belgrade, the widow however, stayed in Moscow.

I could very well say that husband and wife has probably said their goodbyes long before the death occurred, the son however, performed his duties to the best of his ability.

What one cannot argue with is that a leader who has happened upon some misfortune as Milosevic did is not without friends and they have done him proud in terms of his interment.

Friends who excel kin

Even so, I remember, Lady Oyinkan Abayomi (reference in German) died in 1987, a spinster but a mentor and foster mother to many who are of repute in Nigeria.

She has more luminaries attend her funeral than many her age who would have had great grand-children and generations of relations.

Basically, kinship does not guarantee a worthy burial. By happenstance, I met a funereal stones salesman who said a lot less people are taking the cremation option because they miss the opportunity to visit a location where their loved one is buried.

My religion your grievance

Then again, China and the Koreas are always given to extreme histrionics when Junichiro Koizumi the Prime Minister of Japan visits the Yakusuni Shrine where the Japanese war dead are buried and worshipped as gods.

It so happens that some of the war dead includes those who warred against China and Korea, occupying those countries with a iron fist and committing despicable war atrocities.

However, this shrine was founded in 1869 and hence there are more war dead honoured there than those that give China and the Koreas such umbrage.

This worshipping of the dead as spirits is part of the principle of Shintoism which is a major religion in Japan.

The Japanese cannot for the sake of the few then condemn the shrine to extinction or excommunication from the Shinto faith.

Though, I am not sure there is a rite to expunge the spirits of men later adjudged to be wrong in their earthly life from a Shinto shrine.

It is almost the equivalent of saying because evil kings were mentioned in the Bible no one should read the Bible again – now, that would set fire to the Catherine wheels.

Basically, the Japanese have buried their dead and draw strength from their service in Shintoism whilst the Chinese and the Koreans are still haunted by the memories of the evil dead who have advanced to greater things of divine worship.

It is a crazy world out there; I want no part of it.

Death derails war crime justice

The ill omen of custody deaths

Two deaths in six days find the Dutch in as much a difficult situation as stressed out foreigners trying to learn Dutch.

The wheels of justice fell off as the chief defendant in the case where a president is being tried for war crimes departs with finality before judgment could be pronounced.

It does represent serious problems with these war crime tribunals.

Poor case construction

The one in The Hague has been sitting for just about four years in which the original chief judge and Slobodan Milosevic have suffered serious health battles that they both now have lost.

The case against Milosevic constituted 66 counts or charges and hundreds of witnesses in a case of an overly elaborated justice process that has failed to conclude satisfactorily.

Conversely, the Iraqi tribunal is dealing with a event by event despatch of justice, but has the proviso of executing capital punishment within 30 days of sentencing.

It means that The Hague has taken time to exhaust all the issues of the war crimes allegedly committed by Milosevic and his cohorts whilst Iraq would only deal with one of so many crimes to which the sentencing on one can prevent justice being served for the other crimes.

These are both seriously flawed; there is a need for a well-packaged and precise prosecution activity and an exhaustive analysis of crimes where arguments can give weight to the importance of some over others to the satisfaction of all affected.

Time is an unaffordable luxury

Time also is not on the side of all the parties concerned, first the defendants have moved from a live of freedom and opulence to a deprived but functional existence – this would have a psychological, social, physiological and emotional effects on them – the change of circumstances would definitely impact on their health by reason of the environment or some innocuous psychosomatic influence.

In these circumstances, there is a thin line between defiance and despair; it is not clear who will draw that line, where it would be drawn and who might end up on either side.

Even if it is assumed that none of the defendants are suicide risks, the risk of a sudden and precipitous decline in health and well-being is possible that the 30-minute interval monitoring of the defendants is just about enough time to have a ligature round the neck or suffer a heart attack with death arriving swiftly.

It might be that the defendants need to wear biorhythm monitors or have to endure uninterrupted surveillance though that might impact on their civil liberties.

The fact is defendants can be sentenced in situ, in absentia but not posthumously.

A President’s internment

Mr Milosevic who might have been an example to other leaders, who rule with tyranny, has now become a victim of sorts; hero to some; villain to some.

However, nothing stops former Presidents from getting a state funeral, he ruled his people for a decade, albeit badly. However, only recently, Idi Amin and Milton Obote of Uganda who seriously messed up their countries had state recognition at their deaths.

It would not be out of place for Milosevic to be recognised as such; I would not be taking bets on the numbers that might turn out.

Barking Balkans

The paradox of the Balkans is that it is like yeast, you do not need too much for it to leaven the dough; so is their ability to create ructions not only in Europe but globally.

Conspiracies will overrun the truth

On the matter of death, he probably died naturally from a condition related to his heart; some might try to take that dignity away from him and suggest he committed suicide but the greater conspiracy that would create the best copy would be the tribunal refusing to let him receive treatment in Russia where his family is and allowing his condition to deteriorate as he was slowly being poisoned that he succumbed before judgment day.