If only we can punish government crooks this way

If only we can punish government crooks this way

Sisamnes, a Persian judge, took a bribe and rendered an unjust verdict. King Cambyses II, ruler in 530-522 BC, son of Cyrus the Great, found out and decided to make an example of the corruption. Sisamnes was arrested and flayed. His skin was made into a chair for future judges to use, while reminded of the punishment that awaited crookedness.

It is unclear from the accounts of historian Herodotus if Sisamnes’ throat was slit first before he was skinned. But the 1498 painting of Gerard David depicted the gruesome punishment. With Sisamnes tied down to a table, expert flayers knifed away at his chest and legs.

(David’s “The Arrest of Sisamnes” and “Flaying of Sisamnes”, which together make up “The Judgment of Cambyses” diptych, hang in the Alderman’s Room of the Bruges City Hall, Belgium. More horrifying, Dirck Vellert’s stained glasswork “The Judgment of Cambyses”, 1542, is on display at the Rijsmuseum, Amsterdam.)

After the flaying, leather tanners proceeded to sew together the strips of skin into a chair. The king had decreed that all of Sisamnes’ successors were to sit in judgment on The Skin Chair with only fairness in mind.

Sisamnes’ immediate replacement as judge was none other than his son Otanes.

Justice was swift and brutal in ancient Persia. It was crucial for social cohesion of the empire. Thieves and traitors immediately were tied to a tree and left for birds, insects and wild animals to feast on to the bone. Slow excruciating death was meted to those who lied, cheated or stole. (Our Malay ancestors were said to be as rigid.)

If only we can punish government crooks this way

Many of us wish we can punish government crooks the same way. Corruption is the cause of our people’s continuing poverty. We are ruled by politicos who cheat their way into elective and appointive positions. In office they plunder with impunity, knowing they can get away with it by paying off equally crooked investigators, prosecutors, magistrates. People lose hope in the system which their parents and grandparents endured too. They end up selling their votes to the politicos for a quick buck every election year. And so it goes, in vicious cycle.

Occasionally a corrupt official would be exposed for momentary public scorn. But the culprits just wait out the media furor, then steal again when the coast is clear. They resume being called “Honorable”.

Corruption causes hunger and death. Often we witness people suffering not from natural disasters per se but from the aftermath of manmade neglect and theft of public coffers.

Modern justice balances retribution with rehabilitation. Mercy is sought more than penalty. The Constitution forbids cruel and brutal punishment.

The greedy take advantage and steal by the billions of pesos.

Sharing from a social media chat group:

Who invented the three rules to protect us from Covid-19 — do you know?

(1) Social distancing

(2) Wash your hands

(3) Use masks

We find these in the Bible — 3500 years ago the people of Israel were told:

• Exodus 30:18-21. Wash your hands frequently.
• Leviticus 13:4-5, 46. Keep your distance, cover the lower half of your face, and avoid all contact.
• Leviticus 13:4-5. Anyone infected was to be isolated from seven to 14 days.

Meditating on the Good Book and its contexts, we begin to understand the universality of God’s Word.

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Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8 to 10 a.m., DWIZ (882-AM).

My book “Exposés: Investigative Reporting for Clean Government” is available on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/Amazon-Exposes

Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/Anvil-Exposes or at National Bookstores.

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If only we can punish government crooks this way