Nicola Sturgeon apologises to people accused of witchcraft

Nicola Sturgeon has offered a formal apology to individuals accused of witchcraft between the 16th and 18th centuries, many of whom were executed.

The Scottish Prime Minister said she chose to recognize a “monstrous historical injustice”.

It is believed that 4,000 Scots, most of them women, were accused of breaking the Witchcraft Act between 1563 and 1736.

Ms Sturgeon also told MSPs that Parliament could choose to legislate to pardon those convicted under the law.

The Witches of Scotland campaign had called on the government to issue a public apology and said it was sending a “strong signal”.

Witch hunts were taking place in many countries during this period, but scholars say Scotland’s execution rate was five times the European average.

Confessions were regularly extracted under torture, the convicts strangled and burned at the stake.

In a statement in Holyrood, the First Minister said those accused in the act “were not witches, they were people and they were predominantly women”.

She said: “At a time when women were not even allowed to speak as witnesses in a courtroom, they were accused and killed because they were poor, different, vulnerable or in many cases just because they were women.

“It was injustice on a colossal scale, fueled at least in part by misogyny in the truest sense of the word, hatred of women.

“Today, on International Women’s Day, I decide, as First Minister on behalf of the Scottish Government, to recognize this outrageous historical injustice and to issue a formal posthumous apology to all who have been charged, convicted, defamed or executed under the Witchcraft Act 1563 . “

The Witches of Scotland group has asked Holyrood to pardon those convicted under the law, with QC Claire Mitchell saying she would rectify a “horrible miscarriage of justice” as much as possible.

SNP-MSP Natalie Don was already planning a member’s bill extending a formal pardon, and Ms Sturgeon noted that Parliament could legislate in due course.