Scottish Government Refuses Posthumous Pardon for Women Executed as Witches Over 400 Years Ago
The Scottish government has postponed a bill regarding posthumous justice and exoneration for women convicted as witches in the 16th-18th centuries. Between 1563 and 1736, approximately 4,000 Scottish women were tortured and executed following accusations of witchcraft under the Witchcraft Act, as reported by TheTimes.
In 2022, a bill proposing pardons for those convicted under the 1563 Witchcraft Act, which has long been obsolete, was introduced to the Parliament by Natalie Don, a Member of the Scottish Parliament from the Scottish National Party. The bill aimed to formally pardon all individuals sentenced under the archaic law, stating that the failure to provide posthumous justice to those persecuted as witches in Scotland after the Reformation "continues misogyny."
The proposed bill received support from feminist groups and the Scottish government led by Nicola Sturgeon. However, it did not garner universal approval.
"Where is the sympathy for all those turned into newts by witches?" commented one Twitter user in response to Don's initiative. Another stated, "If this is your priority, then your taxpayers are being robbed of taxes."
The bill was rejected after Natalie Don was appointed as the Minister for Children in Humza Yousaf's administration. However, under Yousaf's government, a pardon is now deemed unlikely.
A spokesperson for the Scottish government stated, "Natalie Don's bill was withdrawn when she became a minister, as Scottish ministers, according to the rules, do not advance bills from MPs. Ministers do not plan to pass laws in this area."
In April 2022, First Minister Sturgeon apologized to thousands of women "disdained" and executed after being accused of witchcraft.
Claire Mitchell KC from the organization "Witches of Scotland" mentioned that they received support for the bill from all political parties and actively participated in finding a replacement for Natalie Don as the bill's author.
The infamous Scottish witch hunts began in 1590 with the trial of a predominantly female group from East Lothian accused of meeting with the 'devil' and summoning storms to destroy James VI of Scotland, James I of England, upon his return from Denmark with his fiancée Anne.
While sanity seemed to prevail in 1736 when the British Parliament repealed the 1563 Witchcraft Act in Scotland, as well as its parallel English counterpart, no further legislative steps have been taken since.