Image by @ikbendaf via Flickr
Two weeks ago the 14 year old Dirk Post was murdered in the place Urk (Netherlands). Three guys (ages 12, 13 and 15) who accompanied Dirk when he went into the forest where his dead body was found later on were taken in custody as suspects.
There is no reason to point at them and plea them guilty before all the research is done and their guilt is proven. No question about this. But what’s weird is that according to the Dutch law the maximum sentence for this crime (if one of them or all three commited it) would be 1 year in a youth prison. When this information was broadcasted the Nation was frowning and doubting the justice of the Dutch system.
As if this wasn’t enough, Peter R. De Vries who claimed to have solved the case of Natalee Holloway (he won an Emmy Award for his tv-show where he tried to get the truth out of the notorious liar Joran van der Sloot) stated the following in the Dutch tv-show RTL Boulevard:
“You can’t punish this young fellows just like a grown up person. If they did it they are followed by it for the rest of their lives. You also punish a 4 year old different than a 14 year old kid.”
In my opinion does a mature crime like murder deserve a mature punishment. Don’t get me wrong on this, first they have to prove them guilty, but it’s kind of weird that people who commit a crime get more help than their victims here in the Netherlands.
What do you think? Please leave your opinion in the comment section.
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I don’t agree with you. Why should we punish them more? Justice is not about vengeance. If it were, we had to kill all murderers; but we don’t. Certain punishment is needed, of course. It sends a signal that we don’t tolerate crime and it lets them think about what they have done. But at a certain point, we should reintegrate them into society. We can’t undo what happened, but we can try to make the best of it. So if we put a young killer into jail for a long time, a second life will be destroyed. Is this our goal? I don’t think so.
You made some good points here, Ulrich. The problem I have (and I’m maybe not objective like a judge should be) is that I see too much sympathy for the people who commit crimes, rather than for their victims.
In my opinion it’s a fact that their victims (if they survive) and the families of their victims often get life long traumatized, while the criminals living happily ever after.