Punishment for those convicted was torture followed by being burned to death
Here's a tale that spans back to more than 300 years.
In 1563, the newly established Scottish Witchcraft Act laid down the law, saying that anyone who practised witchcraft or even consulted with a so-called witch should be put to death.
The act was then extended some years later to include "consultation with Devils and familiar spirits."
The act, which pretty much copied similar legislation in England and other places around the world, led to thousands of people — mostly women — accused of witchcraft "without fair trial or recourse."
Punishment for those convicted was torture followed by burning to death at the stake.
However, a new campaign has been launched. It's been more than 300 years after the act was repealed and it aims to pardon all those who were found guilty and sentenced to death.
"There should be an acknowledgment that what happened to these women was a terrible miscarriage of justice," said campaign founder Claire Mitchell QC.
It has been pointed out that in Salem, where a series of infamous witch trials led to multiple convictions and executions, a formal apology was made all the way back in 1957.
In Scotland, there has been no such thing.
"In Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, there are monuments to all sorts of men on horseback, and even a full-size statue of a named bear," said Mitchell. "But there is nothing to commemorate the hundreds, if not thousands, who died as a result of one of the most horrible miscarriages of justice in Scottish history."
So now that they've got an initiative in the works, what's next on the agenda?
Well, an online conference is planned for November 2020, and a podcast will be launched in the coming weeks. Also, an application to the Scottish parliament’s justice committee for a pardon for those executed is set to be handed out next year.
By Matthew Sterner.
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