KEANE - HUGHES HIGHLIGHTS PRISONER'S PLIGHT

HUGHES HIGHLIGHTS PRISONER'S PLIGHT

KEANE star RICHARD HUGHES is visiting a prisoner on death row in the U.S. on Friday (25Sep09) in a bid to raise awareness of the "terrifying" realities of the sentence.
The drummer is accompanying Amnesty International to Jackson, Georgia to see Troy Davis, who was convicted in 1991 of killing a police officer two years earlier - despite the lack of a murder weapon or physical evidence linking him to the crime.
Hughes was shocked when he delved into the background of the case - and branded Davis' plight a "terrifying illustration" of why the death penalty should be banned.
He says, "I am going to Georgia with Amnesty International to meet this remarkable man and his family; to show my support for him and to try to shine a little light on his case and the terrible effects of continuing to execute people in the name of justice.
"Troy is innocent, yet he has been on the brink of execution, only last-minute judgements keeping him alive. He continues to fight for the chance to prove his innocence."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in August (09) that Davis should be allowed a new court hearing to establish his innocence.