Ridiculous sentences

In my interview in The Sunday Times back in September, I had stated that I think that certain penalties in our laws are ridiculous. Today's case of a father who raped his three daughters is a glaring example.

For repeatedly raping his three daughters since they were just 11 and 12 years old, he gets to serve 10 years in prison (less with remission) and fined €3,100.

Three lives have been ruined, three girls have gone through an irreparable trauma brought about by the man who was supposed to protect them - and 'justice' serves out 3 years jail-time and a €1,000 fine for each girl.

And what's going to happen once he's out? I can't dare to imagine what his sex drive would be like after 10 years locked up in prison. He did this to his daughters, he might do worse to others. Should life-terms be meted out to child rapists? Should we discuss offering voluntary surgical castration to sex offenders (like Germany and the Czech Republic do)?

In the meantime, someone who cultivated marijuana for his own use without harming anyone else except himself, is still in prison pending an appeal and facing a sentence of... guess what... 10-and-a-half years jail-time and a €23,000 fine.

Ridiculous doesn't even begin to describe the situation. And this is what a big overhaul of our criminal code must address. Starting from differentiating between crimes in which the criminal harms others, and de-criminalizing those in which the accused harms only himself.

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