Fight to pardon witchcraft victims - 25th February 2022

Witches of Scotland is fighting to get pardons for 2,500 people executed during the 16th and 17th centuries. The 1563 Witchcraft Act kickstarted two centuries of capital punishment for those found guilty of 'the dark arts' in Scotland.

Those accused, mainly women, were deprived of sleep, pricked with needles to see if they bled and examined for 'witches' marks'. Most were declared guilty and sentenced and, after being strangled, they were burned to counteract witches' ability to rise from the dead.

Barrister Claire Mitchell founded Witches of Scotland.

Claire Mitchell: The way that women were killed as witches was by strangulation and then by burning. So, the mosaic denotes the fact that she was burnt as a witch to get rid of her ashes. There was a belief that if you didn't get rid of every part of a witch, that they might 'revenant', rev, coming from the French 'revenir', to return."

Those accused and executed often lived in poverty and had no defence against the charges. Society regarded women as too frail to fight off the devil's attempts to manipulate them.

Zoe Venditozzi hosts the popular Witches of Scotland podcast.

Zoe Venditozzi: "They really felt they were operating in a world in which the devil was out to get them. And that women were weak vessels basically, who the devil could act through. So that's why women tended to get accused, because women were seen as being somebody that the devil could manipulate easily. Whereas men could withstand, you know, the devil's advances."

Witches of Scotland isn't only demanding that those convicted of witchcraft be pardoned. It's also fighting for an official apology from the authorities and a national monument to remember the victims.

But activists believe that their campaign goes far beyond Scotland's history and has a modern, global significance.

Zoe Venditozzi: "We feel that it was an absolutely terrible thing that happened in Scotland's history. It was a miscarriage of justice and unfortunately it's not a finished with issue. There are still people across the world, generally vulnerable, often women or old people, that are being accused of witchcraft and in some cases being killed by mob justice. And in fact there are some countries that are trying to put it into their legal system where people can still be accused of witchcraft. So we don't think that it's an issue that's past. It's still sadly very, very relevant."