False Accusation

False accusation (or trumped-up charges) is a serious abuse of the judicial system. In democratic countries, extensive protections exist to curtail this abuse. In dictatorships and even in emerging democracies, such protections are lacking or weak. "Thou shalt not bear false witness" is the ninth of the Ten Commandments, so false accusation is clearly against God's will in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Sometimes when a person dislikes another person, or harbors a grudge against him, he will accuse him falsely as a means of getting neighbors or the government to punish the person. It is thus an indirect way of getting revenge.

Religious persecution[edit]

For example:

Liza Drenicheva, a Unification Church missionary, had been falsely charged with a “crime against peace and security of humankind” based on the false accusation that she had taught that certain groups of people are inferior on the basis of their relation to “tribal and class identity.” In fact, Mrs. Drenicheva was simply teaching the Unification Church’s doctrine on Original Sin, which holds that all human beings are born into a sinful state and need to attain salvation through God’s grace and their own efforts. ^[1]

References[edit]