Juffa wants harsher penalties

NORTHERN Governor Gary Juffa wants harsher penalties against paedophiles, rapists, perpetrators of gender-based violence, sorcery accusers and a glasman or meri, including a minimum 20-year sentence without parole and a maximum of life imprisonment.
Juffa, who is part of the coalition of parliamentarians to end gender-based violence, told The National that the crimes continued because people were not taking them seriously.
“We need to enact laws that send a strong message out that we will not tolerate these sort of crimes,” he said.
Juffa said that for sorcery-related crimes, laws needed be enacted to send a strong message to the perpetrators including those who accuse the victims.
“When we say ‘perpetrators’, we are not talking just about those who perpetrate the crimes directly but those who accuse the victims,” he explained.
“Glasman are these people who claim to be experts in identifying sorcery; these people should be treated harshly by our justice system (because) they are just as guilty of committing the crimes as those who carry out the violence such as the murderers and the torturers and also those who are complicit, meaning they are in the community and they watch what is happening, but do nothing about it, they are also guilty because they are aiding and abetting indirectly.
“I feel that there should be harsh penalties; I have seen some harsh penalties coming out, which are quiet harsh and I totally agree with those penalties and I feel that a strong message needs to be sent out; perhaps we should look at a specific court to deal with these issues and nothing else.”