The Big Smoke

Helder Fráguas, a Portuguese judge, was suspended yesterday for using "obscene language" on his blog. The decision was made by the Conselho Superior de Magistratura, a body in charge of administering the Portuguese Judicial System, made up partly by former judges, and partly by appointees of elected politicians.

For those of you who can read Portuguese, HERE is an article, and HERE is the blog in question.

As the Portuguese Bloging World has been quick to point out, Mr. Fráguas' blog, "Aqui e Agora" (here and now) is completely and totally free of any language that could be even vaguely considered obscene. He does however, talk about some controversial social issues, most notably, the right to take one's own life, and his opposition to the death penalty world-wide (Capital Punishment was abolished in Portugal in 1867, with exceptions for military law). Even though a judge expressing a political opinion is a bit discomforting (especially on such controversial topics), we all know they have them and, in my opinion, a judge should be allowed to express his views openly, away from work, as a private citizen.

I expect Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to speak very rapidly about this!

As a very small show of support for Mr. Fráguas, over the next couple weeks, I'm going to translate some of the blog's posts, which I think are very well written, interesting and reasonable. Please keep in mind that this is a loose, amateur translation, so please bear with me if I make any mistakes, or if I don't capture the style of the original. I'll start with the post that I think might have lost him his job.

Humiliating

(translation)

I'm referring to suicide by hanging, the method which is almost always forced on prisoners wishing to take their own lives, due to a lack of other means available. Amongst the few prisoners who've been able to use other methods, one can include the famous Nazi condemned to death by hanging at Nuremberg.

Hermann Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe, was a morphine addict. He started using the drug after having received painful wounds. And because of his addiction, he lost his athletic frame eventually became morbidly obese. Landing behind bars after Germany's defeat in WWII, Goring was forced to abstain from the drug. On October 1st, 1946, he heard his sentence, which referred directly to the method of execution chosen for him: Death by Hanging. For a Military Man, this is the most humiliating way to die.

It's relatively acceptable for a soldier to be put before a firing squad, confronting his death head-on. But it's difficult to accept being thrown into empty space, hanging from a rope, suffering asphyxiation, or cerebral ischemia (translator's note: I think that's the English phrase). With the weight of Goring, it was relatively certain that hanging would make a quick death, but with a spinal fracture as is common in that type of situation.

Goering tried to appeal this decision, saying that he'd only accept capital punishment if he was put in front of a firing squad. The appeal was denied, however.

The day before the planned execution, the prisoner was found dead in his cell, having taken a cyanide pill. Certainly, he had carefully hidden the pill amongst his belongings, which had been confiscated when he was captured. The mystery, then, is who brought the acid from his belongings to his cell. Erich Zalewski, a former SS official, claimed that he had given the drug to the condemned, but his story is considered implausible.

An American soldier, Herbert Stivers, related another version of the events: Goering was complaining about unbearable pain, and said that he'd been hiding medication in an ink pen in his belongings. The soldier found and delivered the pill, not knowing that he was, in fact, giving the condemned cyanide.

The most plausible explanation is that the prisoner had made friends with American Lieutenant Tex Wheelis, who understood Goering not wanting to submit himself to force, and delivered the cyanide with full knowledge of what it was.

Translator's Note: Fráguas alluded to some of the humiliating, and often painful, physical effects of being hanged. Check the Wikipedia Article for more information. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia Article fails to mention 'Angel Lust', in which a male who is hanged receives an erection just after dying. Definitely not a dignified way to go in front of a crowd. I could see how an article like this might be shocking, but I'd rather see a psycho like Goering take his own life than have us take it for him. It might be a fitting death, but the best way to deal with a sick mind is to protect society from it, not to imitate it.

"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. ...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Hermann Goering