Scotland demands to justify thousands of witches who were executed in the 16-18 centuries

The Witches of Scotland, an organization that seeks to acquit people executed on charges of witchcraft, has submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament for clemency and an apology to all the accused.

The Independent reports.

Submitting a petition

In March, the organization registered on the website of the Scottish Parliament a petition for “pardon”, as well as the memory of all convicted under the Witchcraft Act of 1563. Since then, the petition has garnered over 3,400 signatures. In addition, she was supported by some politicians.

Witches Execution Act

In Scotland, the law was in effect until 1736. During this time, according to the organization, at least 2,558 people were executed for witchcraft. A total of 3,837 people were accused of witchcraft, of which 84% were women. At the same time, the organization notes that these figures are approximate. Since witchcraft was a serious crime, in order not to bury witches, they were simply burned at the stake.

Memorials to convicts

Now in Scotland there are small memorials to convicts. However, they are more a mention of those events than a commemoration of the dead.

What did you do with the accused?

According to the organization, those accused of witchcraft were tortured to confess to the crime. They were not allowed to sleep, bled to see the witch’s reaction, undressed in public, pulled out their nails and the like. In 1736, it was recognized that the execution of people for witchcraft was wrong, and the crime itself was changed to seeming witchcraft with imprisonment for one year.

Posthumous justice

The organization notes that although in Salem (Massachusetts, USA), where the trial of witches took place, all the convicts were acquitted and a memorial park was created for the victims, in Scotland, posthumous justice for the convicts was never achieved.

What does the organization require?

The Witches of Scotland demand a pardon for those convicted of witchcraft, an apology to all accused and convicted persons, and the creation of a National Memorial to honor them.

What did Ukrainian witches do?

According to Wikipedia, the main skills of witches in Ukraine were: the ability to shape-shift on different animals; the ability to take milk from cows, wool from sheep, eggs from poultry and lard from pigs; to deprive people of their crops and make them ghouls; send diseases; spoil products; the witch can also control the weather: cause hail, drought, and the like. Even having a dream, a witch can lead to trouble.