George Pell ‘Witch Hunt’ Was ‘The Greatest Miscarriage of Justice’: Andrew Bolt
By Sky News Australia
Sky News host Andrew Bolt says the “witch hunt” against Cardinal George Pell destroyed the man’s career, reputation and locked him in jail for 404 days “for a crime he could not possibly have committed”.
“This was one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in Australian history.”
“A lot of people today should be ashamed of their role in the persecution, witch hunting and jailing – for 404 days – of an innocent man.”
“The charges were inherently implausible.”
The High Court of Australia today quashed all charges against Cardinal Pell saying the jury did not entertain “doubt as to the applicant’s guilt”.
“The High Court found that the jury, acting rationally on the whole of the evidence, ought to have entertained a doubt as to the applicant’s guilt with respect to each of the offences for which he was convicted, and ordered that the convictions be quashed and that verdicts of acquittal be entered in their place,” the court wrote after setting Cardinal Pell free.
Here’s what others had to say:
mccheeseburger01
Everyone deserves a fair trial. Imagine being convicted in a he said she said trial when you have witnesses saying you could have never possibly been in the place at the time of the alleged crime. It should have be worrying for every Australian citizen.
Alex Smith
There’s something I’ll never like about George Pell and how he seemed impervious to the suffering of victims within his church. However, what I learnt from Lindy Chamberlain is that the person being odd plus an accusation doesn’t just add up to guilt unless there’s credible evidence to support the accusation. Also worth mentioning that the Salem witch trials also cleaned the town out of all the odd people. Also how many innocent people were convicted because of dodgy behaviour unrelated to what they were accused of, such as people having affairs found incorrectly guilty of murder. A trial should never be about convicting a person for their personality and reputation but for tangible crimes based on evidence.
E I
Thank you Andrew Bolt, for your consistent support for the principles of our criminal justice system through this whole process. The High Court has, and rightly so, upheld the golden thread that runs through the web of our criminal law: “that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner‘s guilt…If…there is a reasonable doubt…the prosecution has not made out the case and the prisoner is entitled to an acquittal“ (Viscount Sankey in Woolmington v Director of Public Prosecutions [1935] UKHL 1.
Jason tradinghigh
We congratulate you Andrew for being, not only a descent human being but having the guts to speak the truth that is almost destinct in these modern times. You are THE only person left that so many of us can relate to on ANY media channel!!!…Sleep well.
peter chan
You are absolutely right Andrew, this is a gross miscarriage of justice but I believe that a man like George Pell would have spent his long time in jail in prayer for humanity. God upheld justice for Pell and the Church. Amen
Eleanor de Freitas
One of the ten commandments is ” thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor ” We ought to meditate on that. It’s devastating to be falsely accused. It also makes it very difficult for real victims to be believed.
John Deighan
However implausible it may be that Witness J gave false evidence, it was also inherently implausible that Pell could have committed the abuse in the manner, place and timeframe alleged. Both the allegation and its denial admitted of reasonable doubt. Therefore, Pell should never have been convicted. The burden of proof, after all, is on the accuser.
Tom Pyke
Throughout all of this we must remember that Pell has had accusations since the 1960s of him indecently dealing with children. Some have died, some could not come forward and for those that did, their life was hell. Pell was living at ”ground zero” for many years and knew of the sexual crimes of his clergy brothers. He further protected through the Melbourne Response by having a solicitor and psychologists save the church ”millions” – look at the RC findings. It is far from over. Pell has many more questions to deal with and civil suits. Crimen solicitantionis George…..
