Poor Fellow My Country

For Justice Weinberg
With Thanks 

The Appeal Court Conviction of Cardinal George Pell


Holocaust Museum






we weren't born then
but we know all about it
a reality etched on the psyche  forever

you above all know the supreme importance
of a judicial system that can operate
without fear or favour based  on evidence
 rather than  offering up a  sacrificial lamb
to appease populist opinion

only 72 years ago your lot  was eliminated
in a mass final solution with judicial approval
you must quake in your boots knowing
that we have returned to those terrible times
and here  in the 'lucky country' of all places

be proud that you spoke up against
a sham mock trial
under enormous pressure
your integrity remains in tact

i pray that you will  be given the strength
to withstand any reprisals
you are undoubtedly going to suffer
from the media baying for  your blood


even without the jack boots sig heils
and 4th rate charlie chaplin impersonater
it's the same nightmare played out again
isn't it
only cast  in a different setting
on white sandy beaches with blue skies
which if possible is even more sinister

but this time
there IS nowhere to escape to


Midweek Motif  Poets United

Of the 325-page judgement delivered by the Court of Appeal, Justice Weinberg's reasons accounted for 200 pages.

"I am troubled by the fact that I find myself constrained to differ from two of my colleagues whose opinions I always respect greatly," he wrote.

"That has caused me to reflect even more carefully upon the proper outcome of this application. Having done so, however, I cannot, in good conscience, do other than to maintain my dissent."

Chief Justice Ferguson, in a summary of the Court of Appeal's ruling, said Justice Weinberg found that at times the victim was inclined to embellish aspects of his evidence, and that it contained discrepancies and "displayed inadequacies".

 

"In Justice Weinberg's view there was a significant body of cogent and, in some cases, impressive evidence suggesting that the complainant's account was, in a realistic sense, impossible to accept,"

"To his mind, there is a significant possibility that the cardinal may not have committed the offences.

Justice Weinberg said There is, to my mind, a ‘significant possibility’ that the applicant in this case may not have committed these offences. That means that, in my respectful opinion, these convictions cannot be permitted to stand. The only order that can properly be made is that the applicant be acquitted on each charge.”