TOPIC:

So today I am driving along listening to Triple J (Australian radio station) and on the 9:30am news they say that in Melbourne today (a Saturday) they have reopened the Morant case.

This thread is to see if someone has more information on this. This is not to discuss the merits of opening an old case, or if you think the original verdict was correct.

If anyone has a link, or heard what I heard, please let me know.

Ryan

FYI Ryan,

I would emphasis the word "moot" and it appears to merely be around legal process. Today I believe was Friday. If you want further info the Victorian Supreme Court might be the place to look?

"Lietenants Morant and Peter Handcock were tried and executed over a century ago for killing prisoners during the Boer War, but today the charges were overturned after a moot appeal in the Victorian Supreme Court found their initial trial was unfair." ABC News

I'm actually pleased for this because they were used as scapegoats at the time and actually were also convicted by evidence from persons they had discredited or implicated in actual war crimes.
And they were acting on instructions from Kitchener himself though he didn't have the balls to admit it!

Iain

Gentlemen,
As I understand, the three defendants, have been "cleared" by a "mock trial" in Australia, which has no authority whatsoever, on the grounds for the defence that they were following orders.
It is very important to understand that they have not been pardoned by the government of the United Kingdom, I will be interested to see what happens next, much of the original evidence and papers have been missing for years.
I will also be interested to see the line that the Australian government takes on this, not that it really matters as the defendants were not put on trial by them in the first place.

It was on Saturday and seems to be a re-enactment thing, about as official as that time I played a wargame and my Boer army overran Durban in time for Christmas 1899.

So nothing to freak out about, nothing new!

To paraphrase "The colonies are getting restless again". I am sure they are worried in the UK that we are about to stop sending Lamb & Wool back to the Old Country!!