> Some of Byker's posts in 2005 on the civil war in Liberia where quite
> hilarious.
Deep-fried kaffir kritter: "I put my hand in there four times." A few more
dips and you'd have had a drumstick to munch on, Mbongo...
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Put your hand in hot oil: on trial in Liberia
Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:12 AM ET
By Katharine Houreld
SANOYEA TOWN, Liberia (Reuters) - Two months ago, Peter Yah's hand was
plunged into hot oil after he was accused of stealing $10.
The 22-year-old Liberian student and his brother had been previously
detained over the robbery, but there was not enough evidence to prosecute
them.
Their accuser demanded the men undergo trial by ordeal -- a practice in
which guilt is determined by exposing the suspects to acute pain and
interpreting their reaction.
If there is no injury, or if the wounds heal quickly, the accused is deemed
innocent.
"The sassywood man put oil on the fire, said we should put our hands inside
and when I put my hand inside I touched the bottom of the pot and I burned,"
Yah said.
Sassywood is the name given to the man who oversaw the ordeal -- a cross
between a witchdoctor and a judge.
"I put my hand in there four times. I was afraid and I just wanted to be
free without a problem," Yah added, his fingers still puffy and shiny pink.
Weeping sores have formed around Yah's nails and he cannot fully straighten
his fingers or make a fist. He has not yet returned to school because he
cannot write.
Trials by ordeal have been banned in this West African country, but many
people do not know they can refuse to take part.
In a land where the justice system is in shambles after 14 years of on-off
civil war and decades of corruption, where police regularly demand bribes
and remote villages are often several days journey from the nearest courts,
the brutal system fills a legal vacuum.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=lifeAndLeisureNews&storyid=2005-11-29T131203Z_01_KNE947488_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIBERIA-JUSTICE.xml
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