On
Tues. 27 August, Anne Sacoolas, 42, a mother of three, drove out of her
residence in Croughton, Northamptonshire, UK. She drove a beautiful luxury SVU
Volvo XC90. As to where she was headed is not known, because a subsequent event
prevented her from reaching her destination.
Soon after her Volvo gathered speed, she
noticed a motorcycle coming in her direction. Strangely, it was riding on the
wrong side of the road. In a civilized nation that UK is, road discipline is
high, drivers are polite. Surely, the speeding bike rider must move to the
other side of the road to avoid colliding with her Volvo. This chain of
thoughts occurred in a few microseconds.
At that time, she didn’t know the name of
the bike rider. He was a 19-year old English boy, Harry Dunn. As he came out of
a curve, he noticed the big car, for some reason driving on the wrong side of
the road. This was his side. The car should move to the other side,
making way for him to continue without breaking. This was the last ever thought
the boy had. The super sturdy Volvo killed him instantly.
Diplomatic shield
It later transpired Anna Sacoolas was a
wife of an American CIA operative. Their family had moved to the UK only three
weeks before that. They lived at a US military base. After the fatal accident,
from the same base, in a private plane, the family was flown back to the USA.
Americans claimed Anna Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity, which meant she
couldn’t be charged or prosecuted in the UK. Everyone was sorry for the tragic
death of the English boy, but USA couldn’t send the Volvo driver back to the UK
to face justice. USA rarely (read never) waives diplomatic immunity.
Why are diplomats immune?
Diplomatic immunity is an ancient
concept. In Ramayana, the Indian epic, Seeta is kidnapped by the Sri Lankan
king, Ravana. Lord Rama, Seeta’s husband, sends his emissary, Hanuman, the
supermonkey to Ravana. Ravana wishes to kill him, but his advisors restrain
him. Hanuman is a diplomatic guest, he must go back unharmed.
Diplomatic privilege, not immunity,
benefited me when I was a student in Moscow. The Soviet postal system was
notoriously slow. The State could open and read any letter, and did so fairly
often. Indian embassy in Moscow had allowed us, the Indian citizens living in
Moscow, to send and receive letters through the embassy’s ‘diplomatic bag’.
This bag would travel both ways between Moscow and Delhi. Throughout my stay in
Russia, none of my letters was ever intercepted.
Embassies, consulates and certain other
premises enjoy the legal fiction of being a foreign territory. That is the
reason Julian Assange could hide himself for years in central London, enjoying
the diplomatic protection offered by the Ecuadorian embassy.
Such global understanding is essential
when the standards of justice are different in the sending and the receiving
country. An American or a European diplomat wouldn’t like to be tried in a
court of Saudi Arabia or North Korea. UK and USA may appear to have similar
standards, but don’t. USA has a death sentence, UK doesn’t.
Is driving on the wrong side of a road a
crime?
Donald Trump offered mitigation saying
Americans can be confused when driving in the UK. Trump himself has driven on
the wrong side. (Though didn’t kill anyone).
I have extensively driven in
Right-hand-traffic (RHT) countries (Russia, Poland), and Left-Hand-Traffic
(LHT) countries (India and UK). No matter which country, you as a driver, must
always be closer to the middle of the road, not to the curb. (Except in
Myanmar, where traffic is like in the USA, but cars are like in the UK). Turns
and roundabouts can be a nightmare. On an empty road, one can get really
confused. I know at least two British gentlemen who took a clockwise turn at
the roundabouts in Warsaw, one of them causing an accident. When you go from
RHT to LHT, a driver needs to be extra cautious when driving. That’s the rule
of Defence driving. You will be extra careful while crossing the road, why not
when driving?
In Anne Sacoolas’s case, she had come to the
UK only three weeks ago. It is possible she was not made aware traffic in the
UK is on the other side. Or her instinct had taken over. It’s also possible her
car was left-hand-drive, and not English. Whatever the reason, a 19-year old
boy is dead. A victim suggests a perpetrator.
Wrong legal advice
The threat of having to go to jail is an
overpowering one. When your car on the wrong side of the road has killed
someone, you have no idea how the judges would interpret that act. In the UK,
dangerous drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs can be imprisoned for
up to 14 years. Reckless, inconsiderate driving can attract up to five years.
In this case, Anne Sacoolas’ act was not intentional. Her being in the UK for
three weeks was indeed a mitigating factor. Unlikely she would have gone to
jail. But who wants to take that chance?
Paradoxically, by fleeing the country and
going into hiding, the diplomat’s wife has incriminated herself. Her fleeing,
seeking immunity and silence are deliberate. Lawyers work on technicalities, try
to defend the indefensible. In cases like O.J. Simpson’s, they occasionally
succeed. (If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit). But the punishment of the
conscience is equally severe. It can ruin a life without going to jail.
Crime and Punishment
In Dostoevsky’s best-known novel, Crime
and Punishment, a young student Raskolnikov ends up killing two old women
for ideological reasons. In this 600-page book, the murders happen in the first
fifty pages or so. Porfiry Petrovich, the detective investigating the murder,
meets Raskolnikov, discusses a variety of issues, but never charges him.
“Who do you think has murdered the two
women?” Raskolnikov asks him.
“Of course, you,” says the detective.
“Why don’t you arrest me then?” Says the
shocked Raskolnikov.
“Why should I do that?” Says Porfiry. “It
means wasting police and state resources, trying to collect evidence… lawyers
and their fees on both sides. And at the end of it, for want of enough
evidence, you may be set free. Instead, I will rely on your conscience. You
will one day turn yourself in. For an intellectual like you, the punishment of
the conscience is intolerable.”
Though Raskolnikov dismisses that notion
as absurd, by the end of the book, he voluntarily surrenders himself to the police
and confesses. I don’t know about the level of conscience of Anne Sacoolas. But
she must act as per her conscience, rather than legal advice.
Justice, retribution and closure
At the time of writing this article, the
parents of the dead boy plan to go to the USA, and persuade the US government
to send the culprit back to the UK. She must undergo the UK judicial process,
and suffer whatever verdict the judges deliver. Why are they intent on going
through such a painful and expensive fight? Their son is already dead. No
matter how heavy the punishment is for Anne Sacoolas, their son will not come
back to life.
It seems that retribution is an integral
part of justice. We all know the expression, life for life, tooth for tooth, and
eye for eye. Though the parents don’t expect the lady driver to be hanged, a
court adjudicating the entire mishap will offer them a sense of justice. It
will offer them closure. In the USA, relatives of victims often attend the
execution of the murderer. It gives them a sense of release. Similarly, Osama
Bin Laden’s killing offered closure to the families of the nearly 3000 victims
of the 9/11 attacks.
What should Anne Sacoolas do now?
She should come out in the open. Forget
immunity, forget the lawyers. It is so easy in the age of twitter to speak
directly to anyone. She should apologise for the death, admit she had panicked.
Apologise for fleeing, and hiding. She should offer to meet the parents of the
killed boy, and express sincere remorse. Take immunity out of the equation, and
offer to return to the UK. The trial is likely to be brief, and since this was
an accident rather than a deliberate act, she will likely be released with a
reprimand and possibly a few months of community service in America at worst.
She is a mother of three, and judges will make sure her children don’t get
punished along with her. The diplomat’s family should also offer to compensate
the Dunn family. For their expenses and more. In criminal cases, this is called
‘blood money’, money paid to avoid the vengeance of the injured family.
Although no deliberate crime was committed, such set of actions will offer the
victim’s family justice and closure. If Anne Sacoolas is lucky, the English
parents may forgive her and allow her to not return to the UK. For that to
happen, she must show courage, and let her conscience and not the lawyers
dictate her actions.
Ravi
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