Natalie Strecker, cleared by the Court in Jersey from offenses under the terrorism law "abhors violence by Hamas and Hezbollah". Jersey Police said in a statement the "matter was brought before the courts following a complaint from a member of the public".
It is not the fault of the police. They have to act according to the law of the land.
And I was struck by similarities through ages past. Those accused of witchcraft were arrested and tried. The authorities of that day had to apply their own legal framework against those who were touched by darkness, consorting with the devil. Where did the accusations come from? For the most part, we do not know the accusers, who have faded into the background.
Likewise, in the German Occupation, those accused of offenses such as listening to wireless sets were arrested. It is well known how most of these were by anonymous letters. But the law in force had to take its course.
Now we actually have a very good and sensible law, in the Terrorism (Jersey) Law 2002. But again, the trial of Natalie Strecker shows that it can be used by a person unknown to open up a hornets nest. The police were correct to investigate. But what is shows is that “a complaint from a member of the public” who is unknown, who may certainly have an axe to grind, can with impunity cause a trial to take place, even when it is the fringes of an offense.
This is the background behind this poem.
Whispers
A witch, a witch, they softly say
And so she is arrested, on trial
Never knowing who did betray
Falsehoods erupt in such bile
Listen to wireless in dead of night
The letter sent by one unknown
Never named and out of sight
Pernicious seeds so badly sown
Speak out against Gaza suffering
Again the silent voice calls out
Terror laws claim she’s breaking
Accuser never shows a doubt
Betrayers come, not with a kiss
But invisibility from the abyss
It is not the fault of the police. They have to act according to the law of the land.
And I was struck by similarities through ages past. Those accused of witchcraft were arrested and tried. The authorities of that day had to apply their own legal framework against those who were touched by darkness, consorting with the devil. Where did the accusations come from? For the most part, we do not know the accusers, who have faded into the background.
Likewise, in the German Occupation, those accused of offenses such as listening to wireless sets were arrested. It is well known how most of these were by anonymous letters. But the law in force had to take its course.
Now we actually have a very good and sensible law, in the Terrorism (Jersey) Law 2002. But again, the trial of Natalie Strecker shows that it can be used by a person unknown to open up a hornets nest. The police were correct to investigate. But what is shows is that “a complaint from a member of the public” who is unknown, who may certainly have an axe to grind, can with impunity cause a trial to take place, even when it is the fringes of an offense.
This is the background behind this poem.
Whispers
A witch, a witch, they softly say
And so she is arrested, on trial
Never knowing who did betray
Falsehoods erupt in such bile
Listen to wireless in dead of night
The letter sent by one unknown
Never named and out of sight
Pernicious seeds so badly sown
Speak out against Gaza suffering
Again the silent voice calls out
Terror laws claim she’s breaking
Accuser never shows a doubt
Betrayers come, not with a kiss
But invisibility from the abyss
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