Oct. 30
SCOTLAND: Accused witches -- and their cats -- executed during a wave of hysteria and religious ferment hundreds of years ago will be pardoned on Halloween in this Scottish township, a court official said Friday. Sunday's ceremony will publicly pardon 81 people executed in the 16th and 17th centuries for being witches. The pardons have been granted under ancient feudal powers due to be abolished within weeks. "There'll be no witches' hats, dress-ups or that sort of thing -- it will be a fairly solemn occasion," said Adele Conn, spokeswoman for the baronial court granting the pardons. More than 3,500 Scots, mainly woman and children, and their cats were killed in witch hunts. Many were condemned on flimsy evidence, such as owning a black cat or brewing homemade remedies. Prestonpans region recorded one of the largest numbers of witch executions in Scotland, said Conn, who is the "mountjoye," or official spokeswoman, for the Barons Courts of Prestoungrange & Dolphinstoun. Gordon Prestoungrange, the 14th baron, granted the pardons in the last session of his court, which is due to be abolished Nov. 28, she said. "Most of those persons condemned for witchcraft within the jurisdiction of the Baron Courts of Prestoungrange and Dolphinstoun were convicted on the basis of spectral evidence -- that is to say, prosecuting witnesses declared that they felt the presence of evil sprits or heard spirit voices," the court said in its written findings. "Such spectral evidence is impossible to prove or to disprove; nor is it possible for the accused to cross-examine the spirit concerned. One is convicted upon the very making of such charges without any possibility of offering a defense." The court declared an absolute pardon to all those convicted, "as well as to the cats concerned." Conn said 15 local descendants of executed witches had been invited to attend the ceremony and inaugural Witches' Remembrance Day, which will become an annual event in the township each Halloween. The fishing village is located about 20 miles east of Edinburgh. One of those descendants, graphic designer Andrew White, 39, said he was intrigued by the idea of having a potential witch in the family. "You have to remember that in those days you could have got burned at the stake for just about anything," he said. "But I'll be trying my secret powers with the lottery next week." White, who was told of his ancestor by the Barons Court just 3 weeks ago, said the community was welcoming of pardon. "It's too late to apologize but it's a sort of symbolic recognition that these people were put to death for hysterical ignorance and paranoia," said local historian Roy Pugh, who presented evidence to the court supporting the pardons. The last execution for witchcraft in Scotland was in 1727. Such cases were outlawed by the Witchcraft Act of 1735, which made it a crime only to pretend to be a witch. ----- On the Net: Baron Courts, http://www.prestoungrange.org (source: Associated Press) PHILIPPINES: Death sentence of rape convict upheld by court The Regional Trial Court sustained its ruling sentencing a man to 26 counts of death for raping his twin daughters. In a one-page order, Judge Fortunato de Gracia of RTC Branch 15 denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the lawyers of Reynaldo Andus whom De Gracia sentenced to death last month after finding him guilty of rape charges. "The pending incident is the motion for reconsideration filed by the accused through counsel, Oliveros Kintanar, and finding no cogent reason to reconsider the decision of the court dated August 31, 2004 for the reason that the same was based on the courts assessment and evaluation of the records of these cases, the court hereby denies the same for lack of merit," de Gracia said. Andus was originally charged with 31 counts of rape, but de Gracia cleared him of 5 counts. He said to have sexually molested his twin daughters on several occasions when they were living with him in Toledo City in 1997. In his motion for reconsideration, Andus had argued that his acquittal of the 5 counts "is a virtual pronouncement" that the complainants must have lied and falsely charged him in at least 5 of the sworn complaints. He also reasserted the supposed evil motive on the part of his daughters in charging him, saying the same is but scheme to create a leverage to prevent him from marrying another woman after the marriage with the complainants mother was annulled. Andus also reiterated that the testimonies of the complainants were "incredible," as they could have slept somewhere else instead of sleeping with him if indeed he had "molested" them several times. "Conventional wisdom dictates that if she indeed had the intention to avoid the advances of the accused, she could have easily slept somewhere else or even transferred residence," he argued. Meanwhile, Andus also asked the court to allow him to continue detention at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. He filed the motion to extend his confinement at CPDRC owing to a move that he be transferred detention in Toledo City where the crime was said to have been committed. He said that he would not be safe in Toledo City because the relatives of the supposed victims "are waiting for him, itching to stage a vendetta," thereby putting him in jeopardy and in great danger. The court is yet to rule on this motion. Andus conviction was the last successful case handled by slain lawyer Arbet Sta. Ana-Yongco before she was shot inside her law office early this month. Yongco represented the two complainants in the case. (source: The Freeman)
