“Nii was executed by firing squad that same night. His parents were not informed either before or after the execution. The first they heard of their son’s death was the announcement on the one o’clock news on the state radio the next day. Their son’s body was never given to them; and they never discovered where he had been buried.”
He paused. I sat with my head bowed, trying to gauge why he had chosen to tell me this story.
“What do you think, Crash?” he continued, “Did Junior Jesus do the right thing? Is it a sign of weakness or strength when those in power choose to temper justice with mercy? In Junior Jesus’s position, what would you have done?”
I thought I understood. He was challenging me to sit in judgment in my own case.
“In my country,” I told him, “No one is punished without d
