Foto: BB.LV / Король Карл III.
Members of the city council of the British town of Maidstone plan to petition King Charles III for an official pardon for all women convicted in the town on charges of witchcraft. This was reported by CBS News. As the channel notes, in the 17th century, England and Scotland were engulfed in a witch hunt, during which approximately 5,000 women were executed: some were hanged, others were burned. According to available data, more than 20 of them were hanged in Maidstone. "Typically, these were unmarried women, old maids, or widows, who usually had no man to defend them. They were easy targets," Claire Keighley, a member of the Maidstone city council, told CBS News. Maidstone is located in Kent County in southern England, 51 km from London. The population is about 110,000 people. The town was first mentioned under the name Meddestane in the Domesday Book in 1086. As explained by Samantha Harris, the collections manager at the Maidstone Museum, many of the women convicted of witchcraft were blamed for natural disasters, diseases, and the death of livestock. "We were looking for scapegoats and accusing people who were often quite vulnerable," she pointed out. Harris stated that pardoning these women is a personal matter for everyone. "If we do not learn lessons from the past, who can say that this will not happen again in the future? There is much to learn from history," she added. ## Modern Medieval Times In some countries, people are still accused of witchcraft. For instance, in the summer of 2025, six people accused of witchcraft were killed in **Burundi**. According to AFP, members of the youth movement of the ruling party "Imbonerakure" stormed the homes of about 10 people and attacked them. As a result, two of the accused were burned alive, while the others were beaten with clubs or stones. In February of the same year, two residents of **Zambia** were accused of organizing witchcraft and possessing amulets intended to harm the country's president, Hakainde Hichilema. Prosecutors claimed that they were planning to conduct a curse ritual against the head of state at the request of the brother of former Zambian MP Emmanuel Banda.
