Last Wednesday I read in Arab News about a police sergeant who was sentenced to a year in prison. It seems that this police sergeant and two accomplices, also policemen, entered a home on the pretext of official business and then proceeded to rob the residents of that house. They also handcuffed the residents and beat them up in order to get them to show them where they kept their valuables. The sergeant then shot one of the residents in the leg; mercifully the man was not killed.
I read this news with great consternation.
An armed robbery in someone’s house is terrible, but for the robbers to be policemen is a catastrophe. Apparently, however, the judge in this case did not share my view on the enormity of this crime and sentenced the police sergeant to one year in prison.
Thank heavens, the crime was not as serious as that of the young woman I wrote about several months ago who was sentenced to 500 lashes for marrying a second time without waiting the required three months.
Or the poor beggar I also wrote about who was sentenced to six months in prison and 1,500 lashes for cursing the judge who ruled against him, wrongly as it later turned out.
I must admit, dear readers, I feel completely disoriented and confused. In my humble opinion punishment must fit the crime for justice to have any meaning.
The police sergeant and his accomplices broke into someone’s home while in government uniform, handcuffed the occupants with government-issue handcuffs and finally shot one of them with a government-issue gun. Can there be a more serious crime than this? What kind of message is the learned judge in this case sending to all members of the police?
What kind of message are we being sent concerning our police?
It seems that in our beloved country it is far more serious to swear at a judge or for a woman not to wait three months before marrying again than to commit the crime the police sergeant committed.
