As I wrote last week, Troy Davis, sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of a police officer in Georgia, has had a new execution date set, for a week tomorrow, despite the disintegration of the case against him.
A friend of mine, someone I'd trust with my life, a lawyer type, who's good at sniffing out the truth, went to visit the crime scene a few years ago and he concluded that Troy couldn't have committed the crime from where he was.
This Friday, there's an international day of solidarity for Troy, organised by Amnesty. As part of that, there will be a vigil at the US Embassy, 24 Grosvenor Square, London between 5 and 7 pm. I know that a lot of Lib Demmy types will have left for Birmingham by then, but if you're going to be around, please go - and encourage as many people as you can to go.
I was hoping that there would be an event at the US Consulate in Edinburgh but it appears not. However, if you are on a train to Birmingham, or not able to go to London, please take part in the day by encouraging as many people as you can to sign Amnesty's petition. 100,000 have signed it already and former US President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are both supporting the campaign to stop Troy's execution.
I find it unbelievable that the authorities can contemplate setting a new execution date when there is so much doubt about this man's guilt.
I can only imagine what Troy and his family are going through.
Please spread the word to as many people as possible. It would be great to have a Lib Dem Blog-in for Troy on Friday. If you're at Conference for the whole time, perhaps you could consider organising an event or vigil there - obviously not on Friday, but before the next Court hearing on Monday.
International pressure has worked before - let's do what we an to save this man's life.
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