Keane drummer says he is 'rooting for Troy' ahead of USA death row man's key legal hearing
Richard Hughes, the drummer from best-selling rock band Keane, has spoken today of how he’s hoping that a man on death row in the USA will be released after a key legal hearing due to start later this week (Wednesday 23 June).
Hughes, 34, Keane’s highly-regarded drummer, was speaking about Troy Davis, 41, a man who has been on death row in the US state of Georgia since 1991. On Wednesday Davis’ lawyers will present information to an “evidentiary hearing” (which is not a trial), a long-sought-after opportunity for him show that his original capital trial was flawed.
“I’m really rooting for Troy. Lawyers and non-lawyers alike can see he had a shockingly unfair trial and has spent the best years of his life waiting to be executed.
Amnesty International will be staging an “I am Troy Davis” solidarity event outside the US embassy in London on 22 June (5-7pm) as part of its global “Day of action” for Davis. Amnesty supporters around the world will be holding similar events in various cities.
* Georgia is one of 35 US states to retain the death penalty
* The USA has seen a fall in the number of executions in recent years, but it still executes dozens of people every year - last year there were 52 executions (the fifth highest number of any country in the world), three of which were in Georgia
* To date in 2010 there have already been 29 executions in the USA (an average of one every six days); one of these has been in Georgia
* Troy Davis is one of 107 inmates (106 men, one woman) on death row in Georgia
* Since 1976 the USA has executed 1,217 people; 47 of these have been in Georgia
* From 1973 to the present 138 people have been released from death rows in the USA on the grounds of innocence - on average there have been three exonerations per year; five of these have occurred in the state of Georgia
* Some 3,200 prisoners remain on death row in the USA