Extra-judicial execution

3091 days ago

Jihadi John – another extra-judicial killing, this is wrong

Don’t misunderstand me: Jihadi John, the Brit who cut folk’s heads off for ISIS was a bad man. The world is no worse off for his death. He will now be discovering that there are no 72 virgins and I rather hope that he is burning in a Judeo-Christian hell for eternity. Having said all of that… 

The man was executed without trial. The US – our ally in our idiotic Middle Eastern meddling – targeted him and executed him from the air without trial, no doubt with the blessing of the British Government. Should we really be celebrating the fact that State can execute its own citizens and is doing so repeatedly without trial?

Does this not set a rather dangerous precedent? I shed no tears for Jihadi John. But state organised extra judicial executions are bad things.  They were bad things when we executed Irishmen in Gibraltar thirty years ago. Yes those Irishmen were members of the loathsome IRA but as British citizens they deserved a trial. 

We should not be celebrating

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