Midnight Express

Midnight Express is a powerful indictment of poorly resourced prisons, wherever they are. The prison system portrayed in this film was Turkey’s in the 1970s, though it was filmed in Malta. Watching it 31 years after its release, I was struck by how little has changed for people in foreign prisons.

The film offered no subtitles and unless you spoke Turkish, you could only imagine what was about to happen to Billy Hayes, just as he can only have guessed at what they were saying in the police station, the court and the prison. That is true for many of the 2,500 British people in prisons all around the world. And like Billy, it is easy to fall foul of prison rules and to be punished, simply by failing to understand what you’ve been asked to do.

What I found most crushing was the futility his father felt at not being able to get him out of prison and back home. The pain that our clients’ families feel was painted bleakly: a profound sense of powerlessness and isolation. I could too easily imagine how desperate and broken my family would be if I was locked up far from them and how they would feel, unable to help.

The film was adapted from Billy Hayes’ book about his experience in Turkish prisons. People with convictions, even when they are spent, face relentless stigma. It is next to impossible to get housing, jobs, bank accounts, or any kind of insurance. Just at the point when they need the most support, people are so excluded from society on their release, that re-offending often seems inevitable. But Billy had a voice and showed that though he had a conviction he was still a person with fear and hope and not just a criminal. It’s important that people with convictions are given a chance to break down others’ prejudices about them.

The film unfairly represented Turkish people, though Oliver Stone, who wrote the script, has since apologised for that when he visited Istanbul in 2004. What the film accurately reflected, however, is that prison systems reflect the lowest standard of living in any country. Living conditions are generally poorer for prisoners than for any other citizens as governments find it difficult to justify a higher quality of life for those inside. Also, pay for prison officers is poor: bribery and corruption can be rife.

1978, the year of the film’s release, was also the year that Prisoners Abroad was established by four friends, Joe Parham, Bob Nightingale, Chris Cheal and Craig Feehan. They were connected to the drugs charity Release, who were appalled by the terrible trouble people found themselves in when arrested and imprisoned on the drugs trail in Morocco. The circumstances that led Billy to prison were similar to those of Joe and her colleagues’ clients. The state of the prisons – the threat of violence, poor sanitation, the lack of nutritious food, the availability of drugs – were the same for those who Prisoners Abroad wanted to help and, tragically, are the same for hundreds of our clients today.

Thankfully, Prisoners Abroad is there to make sure that British people have enough food to eat and safe water to drink, medicine and medical care when they need it, that they are helped to stay in touch with their families. Prisoners Abroad also helps people who return to the UK. Currently the UK government’s National Offender Management Service does not take responsibility for returning ex-offenders. If it wasn’t for Prisoners Abroad, they would be street homeless and destitute the moment they left the arrival lounge at the airport.

Midnight Express raised the awareness, of life in prison abroad, for millions of people in 1978. Tragically there are still countless people in dangerous and damaging situations in prison around the world who need us to care and to ensure their human rights are not routinely downgraded, day by day.