ラクダ100頭で死刑免除

　ソマリランド。銃殺隊が発砲する数分前に、死刑囚とその被害者との氏族の族長・家族がやってきて、和解が成立したぞと宣言。死刑は中止。（もと）死刑囚は解放。

BBC A hundred camels save a murderer's life 7 Sep 2022 BBC Somali service

「A last-minute agreement to pay 100 camels as compensation has spared a murderer's life in Somaliland.

The unnamed man was among five convicts set to be executed in the Madheera area, north-east of Hargesia, the capital of the self-declared republic on Tuesday.

Minutes before the firing squad was given their orders, elders from the families of both the murderer and the victim arrived at the execution site and untied him from a pole.

The other four, who had been found guilty over separate murder charges, were shot dead.」

　同時に刑場に引き出された4人は銃殺された後。

「Last-minute interventions at execution sites are not uncommon in Somaliland.」

「In the traditional justice system, the compensation for a man's murder is 100 camels, but money is often used instead because of a decline in the number of the prized animals in recent years.」

「It has however been criticised because it means people from rich families can buy their freedom while the poor can't.」

　こうしたことは珍しいというほどのことではない―伝統的な法ではラクダ百頭と定められている―昨今の状況ではラクダの代わりにカネで済ますこともある―。

　なおさらに、この旱魃に際しては、ラクダ100頭は結構な資産だろう。

　言わずとも大問題があり、つまり金持ちは人殺しをしても罪を逃れ得る。貧乏にはそうではない。
　そもそも殺人すんな、という大問題はあるが、法の下での平等ということを思うに、どうも微妙に何かしら思いたくはなる。