The sentence of death

THE EDITOR, Madam:

LAST WEEK I visited a friend in St. Catherine. Within 15 minutes of my departure the police raided my friend's neighbour's house. He assumed wrongly that the police were called by me and calculated to arrive on my departure. When the police left he hurled threats saying, among other things, that he was going to "shot" my friend, my friend's young son and myself.

Believe it or not, that's how many of us are taken out by men who pass the sentence of death, in our country, day in and day out! This "Judge dread" is not prepared to give me a hearing and he thought of considering no lesser sentence than death and a triple execution at that, including a seven-year-old who, like us, had nothing absolutely to do with this raid upon him. In family worship on Sunday quite coincidentally, my daughter chose chapter nine of the book of Ecclesiastes verse 12 of which I wish to share with readers and my executioner friend. It says: -

"For man also knoweth not his time as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them."

I am, etc.,

BERT SAMUELS

33 Duke Street,

Kingston.

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