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    Wednesday, 30 September 2009

    Exclusive: Keane Drummer Visits Death Row Inmate

    On Saturday September 26, Keane drummer Richard Hughes made a journey to Jackson, Georgia, with representatives from Amnesty to visit Troy Davis, a prisoner on Death Row. Troy, now 40, was convicted of murder in 1991 in spite of unreliable testimony and with a lack of physical evidence. He has faced the death penalty three times with three reprieves so far. Georgia is one of 37 American states still using implementing the death penalty.

    Here Richard tells QTheMusic.com why this case is so important, and how the trip went.

    "I first heard about Troy's case through Democracy Now, an American news
    show, and I followed the case for a long time. I've always been against the
    death penalty ­ it¹s archaic and medieval ­ and when it finally is banned
    everywhere people will look back and think 'I can¹t believe we used to do
    that'.

    This campaign for me started off as something quite small and I just blogged
    about the case and people responded to it and signed the petition. I've also
    been a member of Amnesty for a long time, They do amazing work, they are
    tireless. I have a friend who works for Amnesty and they put me in touch
    with the people organising this trip.

    I've been travelling with Alistair Carmichael, a Liberal Democrat MP and the
    chairman of the anti-death penalty group. He works with other European Union
    member states groups on stopping the death penalty anywhere in the world.
    It's obviously been successfully abolished many years ago in the UK, and the
    UK helps to make progress elsewhere. Troy was convicted with no physical
    evidence, no fingerprints, no residue from firing a gun, it was purely eye
    witness testimony. Alistair brings with him experience from a previous
    career as a lawyer, prosecutor and defender in Scotland and seeing a lawyer
    running down the case, it's a textbook story of how a case can go wrong.

    We travelled to Atlanta from Washington DC where we'd had a couple of
    meetings, one with congressman John Lewis who is a giant in the civil rights
    movement. He worked alongside Martin Luther King in the 60s and helped bring
    into action the Civil Rights Act. We also went to the British Embassy,
    meeting with different people who were co-ordinating the various agencies
    for this project. I was basically just learning, just sitting there are the
    others went ahead and did their thing.

    It was amazing to arrive in Atlanta, and to meet Troy's mother and his
    sister. On Saturday morning we all got in a car and travelled for about an
    hour to where the prison is.

    I didn't know what the prison was going to be like, it seemed quite modern -
    about 30 or 40 years old - but had no air-conditioning. It's swelteringly
    hot in there, well into 30 degrees even at this time of year ­ no fans
    either. Troy is in a single cell. He has a steel bed with a half-inch thick
    mattress on it. He¹s allowed seven books or magazines at a time and has to
    fill out forms to the Prison library for these. Prioners are charged $5
    every time they want to see a doctor. Troy has tremendous back pain and has
    to see a doctor once a month; repeat prescription are $5 and he has to get
    two of those a month. Phone calls are collect at something like $9 a minute
    to receive a phone call. On a daily basis he can get between three and six
    hours exercise with ten other people. You can't take anything in to
    prisoners, you can only take in quarters to buy things from the vending
    machines and pass them through grills in the doors. It's concrete everywhere
    and completely dehumanising, but that's how it¹s meant to be. In context, if
    a little bit of grass grows up between cracks in the concrete, prisoners
    want to touch it because there is no natural surface. There are so many ways
    that life is made that much more painful.

    The most amazing thing was Troy. He has so much dignity and is incredibly
    positive. We waited in a concrete room furnished with a table and chairs and
    as soon as Troy walked in he gave everyone a hug, thanking everyone for
    their work and we just chatted for a while - we were in there for four
    hours, the maximum time allowed. It's over 20 years since he was arrested
    and his number of visitors is pretty limited. This was the first time
    Amnesty had been in to see him. We¹re very grateful to the British Consulate
    for persuading the prison governor to let us go. Troy's got an incredible
    family that support him, and that¹s the reason he¹s still alive. And he
    gets mail from all over the world. It gives him enormous support, and he¹s
    happy when he's only a month behind on correspondence.

    During the visit, Troy had saved up two vouchers for a photo and a prison
    guard came down to take it.

    Troy has faced execution on three separate occasions and he's had three
    reprieves ­ one coming just within a couple of hours of proposed execution.
    This experience was overwhelming in every way and it convinced me even more
    that incarceration is punishment enough. To execute people is hideously
    wrong. Troy could have been executed by now if it wasn¹t for pressure.

    In the run-up to this, Keane just finished a tour of Canada and the USA and
    we¹d mentioned it to a few people, every single person was incredibly
    supportive. Everyone knows it's something I believe in very strongly and
    this has been the first chance I¹ve had to do something about it.

    Troy has a hearing around the start of November and it's unprecedented ­ the
    Supreme Court, his last hope, have organised an independent hearing in front
    of just one judge to determine whether there is any evidence in this case
    and to perhaps change the outcome of this trial. It's a chance to present
    the recanted testimony, seven out of the nine prosecution witnesses have
    said different things. When the date for that hearing is set, Amnesty will
    be making some noise and making sure the eyes of the world are on this
    event.

    The more people that Amnesty can call upon to call the parole board, or the
    governers' office, the Whitehouse or senators and congressmen from Georgia,
    the more chance a stay of execution will be issued. We want as much
    publicity round these cases as possible. If politicians think no-one¹s
    watching they think they can get away with murder. It¹s important for people
    in Georgia to know not only people in the state are watching, but people all
    over the world. America needs to rethink what it¹s doing in regard to
    capital punishment for where America leads, others follow.

    Amnesty is great; sign up for alerts and you can find out what happening and
    through that they can get 30 emails or faxes into a government office within
    a couple of hours, things that make these people realise the outside world
    is watching.

    If things go right, Troy could be free at the end of the year."

    Find out more at www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty

    View more photos from Richard Hughes' death row visit here.



    -

    Source

    Richard Hughes' photoblog - campaigning for Troy Davis in Washington / Atlanta / Savannah

    Atlanta by night

    The group shot after a great evening.

    James Clark of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (www.GFADP.org) with a t-shirt made for the "Die-In" protest, September 2008

    Biltmore antennas

    Photos of previous actions on Troy's case

    recent and older campaigns, including Larry Cox in 1976

    Visiting the Amnesty Office, Atlanta, for a meeting with local and regional activists.

    sorry!


    The Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel - the missing windows were blown out by a tornado in 2008

    Bibb County school bus

    Alistair was the first visitor to the Scottish Pub from Orkney and Shetland!

    Scottish Pub in Savannah

    with Troy's family - an amazing group of people, and great fun too.

    Arriving at Savannah State for a discussion with students in the social and political sciences. Over 120 came along to hear about Troy's case, the wider issues of the death penalty, and the possibilities going forward.

    RICHARD TO VISIT TROY DAVIS WITH AMNESTY: UPDATE


    ** UPDATED AMNESTY BLOG 30/9**

    RICHARD TO VISIT TROY DAVIS WITH AMNESTY: UPDATE


    ** NEW AMNESTY BLOG 28/9 16:40**

    RICHARD TO VISIT TROY DAVIS WITH AMNESTY: UPDATE


    **DEATH ROW PICS UPLOADED TO AMNESTY BLOG 28/9 00:06**

    RICHARD TO VISIT TROY DAVIS WITH AMNESTY: UPDATE


    **AMNESTY BLOG UPDATED 26/9, 22.13**

    Tuesday, 29 September 2009

    Rock band visits Savannah for Troy Davis


    SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) - With a hearing coming up to try and prove his innocence, death row inmate Troy Davis is finding support from across the ocean.

    A member of british rock band, Keane, and others are visiting from the United Kingdom to talk about the Troy Davis case.

    They are against the death penalty, under any circumstances, and after visiting with Davis this weekend, they say they think he's innocent.

    Not everyone agrees, but they join a growing list of people who are learning about a case which has garnered world wide attention and is focusing a spotlight on Georgia.

    Four years ago, best-selling British rock band Keane burst onto the music scene in the U.S.

    "We love being on the road, getting on a tour bus and touring America," Richard Hughes, Keane's dummer, told WTOC. "It is something you dream about when you first start jamming."

    After millions of albums sold, and just wrapping up a world tour, Hughes is making his first trip to Savannah, but it's not about music. It's about Troy Davis and capital punishment.

    "I think the death penalty should be abolished, but in Troy's case it seems so clear there is such strong doubts about his conviction yet there is still a state which wants to execute him," Hughes said.

    Hughes, along with Scottish member of Britain's Parliament, Alistair Carmichael, and Amnesty International United Kingdom's Kim Manning-Cooper, visited Troy Davis Saturday in Jackson, Georgia, on death row.

    "Having met him, he is an incredibly positive and genuine person and I have no doubts he is an innocent man," Hughes said.

    "Troys case is now a global case, people across the world know about it," Carmichael told WTOC. "So much doubt exists about guilt or innocence."

    Carmichael also heads up the Parliamentary group for the world-wide abolition of the death penalty. Carmichael, Hughes and Manning-Cooper will be speaking to students at Savannah State University Friday night at 8pm.

    "I came because I see a situation where there will be no justice for anyone," Carmichael said. "Obviously no justice for Troy, but no justice for the family of Mark MacPhail."

    "We want to tell the State of Georgia the whole world is watching them, not just Savannah, not just the USA, the whole world," Manning-Cooper said.

    Twenty years after the murder of officer Mark MacPhail and the conviction of Davis, Carmichael and Hughes say guilty or innocent, the death penalty is not the answer.

    "You don't need a Scottsman to come to Georgia to remind you of the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who said, 'Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere'," Carmichael said.

    "The arguments around Troy's case have in a way distracted from the loss of the MacPhail family but that is not a reason to execute an innocent man," Hughes said.

    WTOC spoke to Mark MacPhail junior on Friday by phone. He says he is a little aggravated by the growing support for Troy Davis, who he believes is guilty of killing his father. Some say Troy Davis supporters have had 20 years to rewrite history, and now he feels many are starting to believe it.

    Meanwhile, Davis' attorney's are waiting for the Georgia state attorney general to file briefs. Once filed, Davis's lawyers have 45 days to file their briefs. It could be late fall or early winter before a date is set for his evidentiary hearing.

    ©2009 WTOC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

    -

    Source

    3D WEBCAST UP FOR AWARD



    Keane 3D webast at Abbey Road from keaneofficial on Vimeo.



    We're pleased to report that Keane's 3D webcast has been nominated for The Innovation Award at the UK Music Video Awards 2009. The awards take place on October 13th, 2009 at the Odeon West End in London and "recognise excellence in music video production by UK individuals and companies".

    Check out the 3D webcast in all its glory above.

    Monday, 28 September 2009

    KWN: Hopes And Fears Deluxe Edition announced‏


    HOPES AND FEARS DELUXE EDITION - WIN A SIGNED COPY!

    Hello KWN folks. We're quite excited about our news this week.

    HOPES AND FEARS DELUXE EDITION ANNOUNCED
    We're pleased to announce the full international release of a 2CD Deluxe Edition of Keane's first album, Hopes And Fears, on 9th November 2009. In addition to the original tracklisting, this album showcases previously un-released and rare material including early demo Into The Light, recordings from the band's earliest Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley radio sessions, the timeless B-side and fans' favourite, Snowed Under (from Somewhere Only We Know), and their debut self-released singles. Click here to check out the full 37-song tracklisting.

    The Deluxe Edition is available to pre-order now from the Keane official store, for £14 (around $22 / €15). Click here for that.

    We also have T-shirt bundles containing the CD and a new T-shirt featuring the classic CP70 print. Plus, there is a very limited edition deluxe bundle, featuring the album, the T-shirt and a Hopes And Fears CP70 art print, signed by the band.

    WIN A SIGNED COPY OF THE DELUXE EDITION
    To celebrate the Hopes And Fears announcement, we've got a signed copy of the 2CD Deluxe Edition to give away to a KWN reader (wherever in the world they live). If you'd like to win it, simply email your name and address to competitions@keanemusic.com before Friday 9th October 2009. Just one entry per person, please.

    RICHARD VISITS TROY DAVIS WITH AMNESTY
    Richard has been over in America as part of a trip to visit Troy Davis on death row. He's gone with Alistair Carmichael MP and a representative of Amnesty International as part of an ongoing campaign to free Troy. As Richard says, "With luck Troy will soon be a free man, and the world will be one step closer to finally banning Capital Punishment". Richard will be updating a photoblog during his trip - click here to check it out.

    KWN

    Richard Hughes photoblog - campaigning for Troy Davis in Washington / Atlanta / Savannah

    Troy Davis, Death Row, Saturday 26th September 2009



    The Candler Oak


    Georgia's first hospital, now in decline

    WTOC aerial



    interview for tonight's news, WTOC


    Spanish moss hanging from the trees, Savannah.

    Arches for holding slaves unloaded in the port, Savannah - a major port used in the slave trade.

    Monument to Civil rights progress

    Beautiful Savannah

    the truckstop farm!

    ...on the 250 mile drive to Savannah. The journey from Savannah to death row is approx 200 miles, and Troy's family have made the trip either once a week or fortnight for 18 years.

    Random truckstop fare...

    Heading to Savannah


    Alistair at the King Mausoleum


    meeting local activists and supporters

    Atlanta is also the home of the Carter Center

    heading to Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta.

    the exit for death row

    Our visit, in the sweltering heat of the visiting room. Apologies for the quality of the photo - the prison photographer took and printed these photos, and they came out very badly. Thanks to my friend Shamil Tanna for cleaning them up.