Sassywood is a form of

trial by ordeal Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...

still in use in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. There are various types of ordeal. The principal one involves the drinking of a poisonous concoction made of the bark of the ''

Erythrophleum suaveolens ''Erythrophleum suaveolens'', also known as the ordeal tree, is a species of flowering plant that can be found across most of tropical Africa. The species are in height, and have a rough and blackish bark. The plants leaves have 2–3 pairs of p ...

'' tree. Another involves the rubbing of a red-hot machete on the legs of the suspect, while a third involves dipping the suspect's hand into hot oil. The practice has a long tradition in Liberia. A Reverend Mr. Connelly described it in some detail in "My Report of the Kroo people" in the 1850 book ''The ... Annual Report of the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

...'':

The bark of the sassy-wood is powerfully narcotic, and a strong decoction of this the person is forced to drink ... he either throws off from his stomach the poison, when he is pronounced innocent, or it operates as a cathartic, when he is declared guilty, and compelled to take more of the decoction, and is subjected to other cruelties, which cause his speedy death. ... The ordeal of sassy-wood is therefore made a penalty for all crimes ... the friends of the accused may buy him off from death for different sums of money ...

In October 2009, Assistant Internal Affairs Minister Jangar announced the Liberian government had banned the practice, after the deaths of seven people accused of witchcraft in

River Gee County River Gee is a county in the southern portion of Liberia. One of 15 counties that constitute the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has six districts. Fish Town serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring . ...

in June, at least two of whom died from drinking the poison, but enforcing this policy is difficult. The Liberian judicial system is in a "decrepit state". A 2007

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

report described it as handicapped by "limited infrastructure, shortage of qualified personnel, lack of capacity to process cases, poor management and lack of the necessary will to institute reforms." There are few working courts in rural areas, and most people have no access to legal counsel, nor do many even know that sassywood is against the law. In stark contrast, sassywood is a quick and easy remedy which can take "less than 30 minutes". A poison drink ordeal of the same name has also been reported in neighboring

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

References

{{Wiktionary Law of Liberia Trial by ordeal