Letters | The law is an ass

A long time ago, Charles Dickens said in his famous novel Oliver Twist that, “the law is an ass”. In many ways it still holds true today. So often legal cases drag on for months, even years, as in the case of the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial which has been going on for over three years and has become more of a Hollywood soapie than a serious criminal trial.

What’s more, even after lengthy deliberations, the courts still blunder, making absurd judgments that make you want to wring the necks of the learned legal minds. How can they send hardened criminals back onto the streets to rape and murder, and the innocent to jail? Yet the courts are very particular about the rules and formalities.

The dictum “innocent until proven guilty” is a fundamental legal principle of the criminal justice system. So it was with the three men arrested for the murder of the Newark family of seven. The media couldn’t show their faces as the three sat with their heads bent in court.

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There have been several U.S.-style mass murders in our country but the murder of seven members of the Monswamy family shocked the nation and received nationwide condemnation. Even KZN Premier Thami Ntuli attended the mass funeral which was funded by the provincial government. What makes it worse is that it appears that it wasn’t an accidental killing but a premeditated kidnapping, murder and rape.

The cold-blooded killers spared no one, not even the young and the old. While the police must be commended for their swift action, we cannot say the same for the law. If the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty, why do they not show their faces?

Surely if you are innocent you would not be afraid to show your face? Another point is the three accused have abandoned their bail applications. Were they sitting with their heads bent in shame or were they fearing for their lives? You be the judge.

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