Chapter 783: The End
Five men in shackles sat on chairs. Their hands were bound not by handcuffs, but by heavy iron manacles.
Two thick metal rings, nearly a centimeter thick, locked their wrists. A thick iron chain connected the manacles to their ankle shackles, dragging a 20-pound iron ball behind them.
These restraints were specifically designed for death row inmates. Sometimes, people took certain things far too seriously.
For example, legal professionals believed that suicide was a way to escape punishment. In both Gephra and the Federation’s history, there had been several such incidents.
Faced with unbearable punishment—such as the death penalty—some criminals had chosen to take their own lives.
In response, prison staff would snatch them back from death, carefully nurse them back to health, and once they recovered, hand them a bullet. This grim and puzzling procedure was labeled judicial justice.
Though lawyers and the justice department’s explanations were somewhat strained, public focus remained fixed on whether it was right to take a life—not on the prisoners themselves.
To avoid public backlash, countries began heavily restricting the behavior of death row inmates.
Take the men in front of Lynch, for example. They couldn’t even lift their hands—suicide was virtually impossible.