Giving the finger

Giving the finger

A Portuguese man chops off his finger in court in protest.

January 18, 2009 12:03 by Dana El Baltaji

A Portuguese businessman man has cut off his finger in court to protest against a judge’s ruling to sell part of his land to settle a debt, reports Reuters. Orico Silva was incensed after the judge refused his offer to pay his 170,000 Euro debt, and chopped his index finger off using the court desk as a chopping board: “My intention was to tear up all the case papers and splatter them with blood so I could prevent the expropriation order for my land,” Silva said to a local paper.

“I freaked out when the judge refused my offer to pay the debt and ordered the sale of part of my land. I told her I had a 1.2 million Euro bank guarantee which would have allowed me to pay the debt,” Silva said.

Now that’s a statement. It reminds of Kipp of when two Koreans chopped off their fingers in protest against Japan’s claim on a number of islands in the region.

Well, now what? The Koreans and Silva only have nine fingers left, which means they can only participate in nine more protests. Unless if they move on to their toes.

Would you ever chop off a finger in protest of something?