The conviction of Jesus by Pontius
Pilate may be the most famous
court verdict ever — and
perhaps the most
consequential, since it led to
Christ’s crucifixion and the
founding of a global religion. Now a Kenyan lawyer wants to
overturn Pilate’s decision,
though he wants to keep the
faith that flowed from it.
“The selective and malicious
prosecution (of Jesus) violated
his human rights,” said Dola
Indidis, a Roman Catholic who
is petitioning the International
Court of Justice, based at The
Hague, to nullify Jesus’
conviction and death sentence.
Indidis, a former spokesman for
the Kenyan judiciary, accuses
Pilate, who was the Roman
governor of Judea, of “judicial
misconduct, abuse of office,
bias and prejudice.”
That may well be the case, at
least in the view of believers
and many Bible scholars. But
getting a court to rule on a
2,000-year-old case from an
outlying province in a long-
defunct empire will not be
easy.
Indidis first brought his case
before the Kenyan High Court
in Nairobi in 2007, but the
court refused to hear it, saying
it lacked jurisdiction.
Now he is turning to the
International Court of Justice,
often referred to as the World
Court, which is best known for
ruling on territorial disputes
between members of the
United Nations.
Officials at The Hague would
not confirm or deny that they
have received a petition.
But Indidis seems undeterred
and points to the example of
Joan of Arc, the 15th-century
saint who led the French to
major victories against the
English before she was
captured and burned at the
stake. A quarter-century after
Joan’s death her conviction was
overturned by a papal court,
and in 1920 she was canonized.
Indidis’ petition has surprised
Christian leaders in Kenya. The
Rev. Maloba Wesonga, a
spokesman for the Catholic
Archdiocese of Nairobi, said the
exercise was futile, at least
from a theological point of
view.
“As we know it, the trial had to
happen,” said Wesonga. “We
must understand that Jesus
was not vulnerable and nobody
can do justice to God.”
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