Sir, I write in support of Jenny Marra’s excellent article in The Courier (March 28) in which she exposed the brutality and injustice of the death penalty. Just this week, the world’s longest-serving death row inhabitant, relinquished his title, at least temporarily. Hakamada Iwao from Japan was sentenced to death in 1968 for the murder of a factory manager at the plant where he worked.
His trial fell short of internationally accepted standards and he has always protested his innocence. In Japanprisoners on death row are not told of their execution time until the morning of the event. For 45 years he has wakened not knowing if it would be his last day. He is now 78 years old and, not surprisingly,suffers from mental and physical health problems. In light of recent DNA evidence he has now been granted a retrial, which may prove his innocence.
Jenny mentioned the situation in Saudia Arabia where public execution still takes place. Would any of us turn up in the City Square to witness the weekly ritual of public beheadings? I would hope not, but then, is it acceptable to hang someone behind closed doors? I see no difference.
Of course, in all cases the punishment must fit the crime and families of victims of violence deserve the utmost consideration and support, but the death penalty has no part to play in any civilised society.
What would it say about ourselves if we were to go back down this road? We as a society would be brutalised and that would be to the detriment of us all.
As Jenny says: “We must never go back to this punishment.”
I would ask those who still advocate capital punishment this question: Is it right to kill someone who has killed someone to show that killing someone is wrong?
There is neither logic nor justice in the death penalty.
Ronald Oliver. 4 Lethnot Street, Broughty Ferry.
Blues Festival disappointment
Sir, I am very upset that the Blues Festival wascancelled so late in the day. I have already booked holidays, flights with Easyjet (Belfast to Edinburgh), car hire with Alamo and hotel accommodation (Premier Inn) in Dundee on the basis of the info given on the website that the Blues Bonanza would be on from June 28 2014. So far I have paid more than £450 in bookings and deposits most of it is non-refundable.
I am bitterly disappointed and not a little inconvenienced by the late announcement from the organising committee. This is very bad PR as it reflects not just on the festival but on the city of Dundee itself. I would be very reluctant to makesimilar arrangements to come to Dundee in the future given the unreliable information issued over the last few months.
If the reasons given for cancellation were accurate surely they could have been seen much earlier? Could other organisations such as the arts council and the Dundee civic authorities not have been approached to help?
It has been the custom for the last few years for my wife and I to take a short UK holiday wherever the most interesting music gathering is when we can get away. I would not choose to attend the Dundee Blues Bonanza in the future because of my experience this year. I will inevitably suffer a significant financial loss because of this cancellation.
B Rooney. N Ireland.
Not helping “Yes” cause
Sir, Recently, I was told that when “we” get independence I will have to go back to England (I am not from England, and have no more desire to live there than Sean Connery has to live in Scotland, but that is by the bye!), only the second time that an unwelcoming remark has been made to me since I first came here in 1957.
If the “Yes” campaign think they are helping their cause by telling all incomers on the electoral roll that they will be deported, I think they may be applying false logic.
Of course, he may just have been an agent provocateur for Better Together!
Laurie Richards. 100 Crail Road, Cellardyke.
Statue let the residents say
Sir, Recently, government agency finance has been allocated for the regeneration of Kirriemuir town centre to include improvements to the square. A design has been prepared and the plans are on show for consultation and comment.
The design plan includes a site for a plinth to house a statue of the late Bon Scott who resided in Kirriemuir for a short time before his parents emigrated.
The allocation of the site, I believe, presumes the granting of planning consent for the statue, and I don’t believe the council planners should be deciding the issue.
The decision should be taken by the residents of the town as to whether or not it is appropriate to idolise a person on the grounds of popular culture, finance, or short-term residence for permanent display in the square, as part of the town’s heritage.
It is for this reason I would like the decision on the proposed statue to be taken now, during consultation on the plans, before the designs are approved.
Alan Bell. Roods, Kirriemuir.
Why no Choral Union review?
Sir, Having attended the splendid Dundee Symphony Orchestra concert on Saturday, I was delighted to read the most favourable review by Howard Duthie in yesterday’s paper. It was surprising and disappointing that the previous weekend’s Dundee Choral Union concert was not reviewed favourably orotherwise in your columns.
Ken Anderson. 10 Douglas Terrace, Broughty Ferry.