Mob justice not good for society
Mmegi Editor | Tuesday September 5, 2017 11:49
The residents accused the father of ‘selling’ his child to a businessman who is also a neighbour and a friend of the family. The riots ensued when a Sangoma and a traditional doctor claimed that the boy was in the guesthouse, inciting the mob to cause a lot of destruction to the building.
The body of the boy was later found in a borehole intact with no suspicious wounds. What is disturbing is the fact that this group decided to cause a lot of destruction to the guesthouse despite the owner’s denial of knowledge of the boy’s whereabouts and presence of law enforcement officers. The mob demanded the man to open all the rooms yet they were not in possession of a court order or search warrant, before breaking the windows and doors.
The businessman has suffered a serious drawback for merely being a suspect and the mob being the investigator, the prosecutor, the judge and jury.
This cannot be allowed to continue because innocent lives have been lost to mob justice. We therefore call on the authorities to review the law to prevent mob justice as this erodes the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’. The big question is whether the mob will be ordered to compensate the Molepolole businessman and whether they have the means to do that.
On the other hand, the authorities ought to learn from such incidents that the citizenry is losing confidence in the law enforcement agencies, from the police to the courts. The police take too long to respond to reports of crime, whilst the courts are seemingly protective of suspected criminals and habitual offenders who are allowed back into society a few weeks after committing heinous offences. Bail conditions are not strict and cases take too long to be disposed of and witnesses end up forgetting what really transpired on the day of the offence whilst some of them die along the way.
Whilst we appreciate the measures taken by the Administration of Justice to speed up cases, and the challenges such as shortage of magistrates and judges, criminal cases often take too long to complete. This delay unsettles ordinary people who have to live with their tormentors, meet them in the streets and during social events, as well as share public transport with them, amongst other inconveniences.
A quick disposal of criminal cases where all the evidence is available will restore public confidence in the law enforcement and judicial systems and reduce incidents of mob justice and wanton violence.
Today’s thought
“The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.”
– George R.R. Martin