September 23, 2009 0:01

Keane drummer to join Amnesty International protest for death row prisoner Keane Tickets

Richard Hughes is travelling to Georgia to show support for Troy Davis

Keane drummer Richard Hughes is to accompany Amnesty International to visit a prisoner held on death row in the US state of Georgia this Friday (September 26).

Hughes says the case of inmate Troy Davis is a "terrifying illustration" of why the death penalty should be banned.

Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing police officer Mark Allen MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia in 1989, despite authorities being unable to find a murder weapon or physical evidence linking him to the crime. Seven of nine witnesses in the case later changed their initial testimonies against him in sworn affidavits.

"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," Hughes said in a statement.

The drummer is to visit the Diagnostic And Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia to meet Davis, who last year came within two hours of being executed.

"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," he continued.

Last month, the US Supreme Court ruled that Davis should be allowed a new court hearing to establish his innocence.

Amnesty International has set up a petition for Troy Davis at Amnesty.org.uk/deathpenalty.

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