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1
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Millions of Americans pass each other
on the sidewalks of our cities each day.
2
00:00:10,732 --> 00:00:13,968
Few are aware of who the other is,
what kind of work he does...
3
00:00:14,135 --> 00:00:16,571
...what his problems are.
4
00:00:18,306 --> 00:00:20,074
For most, things are routine.
5
00:00:20,241 --> 00:00:22,877
They take for granted
the right to walk that street...
6
00:00:23,044 --> 00:00:26,614
...protected by a system of laws
that guarantees certain freedoms...
7
00:00:26,781 --> 00:00:29,617
...and that those freedoms won't
be taken away without a fair trial...
8
00:00:29,784 --> 00:00:33,087
...fair treatment and punishment
that fits the crime.
9
00:00:33,288 --> 00:00:35,356
This young man is an exception.
10
00:00:35,523 --> 00:00:37,559
In 1970, when he was 20 years old...
11
00:00:37,725 --> 00:00:40,762
...he was arrested in Turkey
and found out the hard way...
12
00:00:40,929 --> 00:00:44,132
...that the American constitution
doesn't fit inside your passport...
13
00:00:44,299 --> 00:00:46,000
...when you make a mistake
overseas.
14
00:00:46,167 --> 00:00:48,836
His experiences with the laws
of another country...
15
00:00:49,003 --> 00:00:50,805
...are almost beyond comprehension.
16
00:00:50,972 --> 00:00:55,376
The retelling of his adventures is
Just a reminder of what can happen.
17
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Dear Mom and Dad:
18
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This is the hardest letter
I've ever had to write.
19
00:01:29,344 --> 00:01:32,714
I'd hoped somehow
to get out of this quickly...
20
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...so that you'd never
have to know about it.
21
00:01:35,683 --> 00:01:38,219
The voice is that of an actor,
Brad Davis...
22
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...and the scenes are from a movie,
Midnight Express...
23
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...based on the story of the person
he's portraying, Billy Hayes.
24
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The words were written
in a letter to Billy's parents...
25
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...the day after his arrest
at the Istanbul airport.
26
00:01:51,165 --> 00:01:53,635
I guess one of the first feelings I had
was surprise.
27
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Because it's the last thing in the world
I expected to have happen.
28
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This foolish confidence I had.
Suddenly the sky fell onto my head...
29
00:02:02,977 --> 00:02:05,279
...and I was being arrested.
30
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Get down, get down.
31
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Don't panic. Oh, God, don't panic.
32
00:02:16,924 --> 00:02:18,826
How can this happen?
Other people get arrested.
33
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Not you and I, other people.
34
00:02:20,294 --> 00:02:22,196
All of a sudden,
I was one of the other people...
35
00:02:22,363 --> 00:02:23,931
...and it was a shock.
Quite a shock.
36
00:02:24,132 --> 00:02:29,103
It took a while, I think, before the full
effect really began to seep in on me.
37
00:02:29,270 --> 00:02:31,839
That I've been arrested.
That I'm really gonna be in here.
38
00:02:37,078 --> 00:02:38,613
I think I was just...
39
00:02:38,780 --> 00:02:41,749
I was numbed, really,
more than anything, initially.
40
00:02:44,385 --> 00:02:48,923
I don't know what's gonna happen.
But what can I say to you?
41
00:02:49,090 --> 00:02:53,161
Will "I'm sorry" make a difference?
Will it ease the pain?
42
00:02:53,327 --> 00:02:55,697
Hayes had been charged
with possession...
43
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...of a small quantity
of hashish at a Turkish airport.
44
00:03:03,438 --> 00:03:08,109
First, he was sentenced to five years
in a prison cell such as this one...
45
00:03:08,276 --> 00:03:11,245
...constructed in Malta
for the making of the movie.
46
00:03:11,412 --> 00:03:13,414
Just days before
his scheduled release...
47
00:03:13,581 --> 00:03:16,651
...a Turkish appeals court
threw out the five-year sentence...
48
00:03:16,818 --> 00:03:19,721
...and ordered that
he be confined to life.
49
00:03:19,887 --> 00:03:23,257
A sympathetic judge
reduced that to 30 years.
50
00:03:23,424 --> 00:03:26,861
And then, Billy escaped.
He did it on his own...
51
00:03:27,028 --> 00:03:29,764
...because he was beyond the help
of just about everyone.
52
00:03:29,931 --> 00:03:32,734
As is often the case, his own
government couldn't do a thing.
53
00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:38,439
-What's wrong?
-Sit down for a moment, Billy.
54
00:03:41,142 --> 00:03:44,846
I'm afraid
I have some bad news for you.
55
00:03:46,781 --> 00:03:49,450
He was beyond the reach of the girl
who loved him.
56
00:03:49,650 --> 00:03:51,219
Billy, what have they done to you?
57
00:03:51,385 --> 00:03:55,923
-He was beyond the help of his parents.
-Billy, if I could be where you are...
58
00:03:59,227 --> 00:04:01,662
...I'd be there.
59
00:04:03,231 --> 00:04:06,968
Like 2000 other Americans who are
currently in foreign prisons...
60
00:04:07,135 --> 00:04:09,470
...Billy Hayes was very much alone.
61
00:04:09,637 --> 00:04:13,775
It's a common core for anybody that
has gone out of the United States...
62
00:04:13,941 --> 00:04:16,911
...and has faced
just a custom's inspector who says:
63
00:04:17,078 --> 00:04:19,914
"What's in the bag? Move over there.
I wanna do an inspection."
64
00:04:24,452 --> 00:04:27,255
You immediately become defensive,
you immediately become nervous...
65
00:04:27,421 --> 00:04:33,861
...because you don't realize, except
viscerally, how vulnerable you are.
66
00:04:34,762 --> 00:04:36,063
On the set of the movie...
67
00:04:36,230 --> 00:04:39,767
...Hayes reflected about what he
had seen and what he had survived.
68
00:04:39,934 --> 00:04:41,903
I realize that what I did was wrong.
69
00:04:43,437 --> 00:04:44,839
It was obviously stupid.
70
00:04:45,006 --> 00:04:46,741
Cost me five years of my life.
71
00:04:48,109 --> 00:04:50,077
But I think the punishment
should fit the crime.
72
00:04:50,244 --> 00:04:53,748
The U.N. and Amnesty International
report dozens of nations...
73
00:04:53,915 --> 00:04:57,585
...including Turkey, still retain archaic
prison systems and use torture.
74
00:04:57,752 --> 00:04:59,554
Recent pressure
from American parents...
75
00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,023
...and support from a handful
of congressional leaders...
76
00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:04,225
...have brought about prisoner
exchange treaties...
77
00:05:04,392 --> 00:05:05,493
...with Mexico and Canada...
78
00:05:05,660 --> 00:05:08,496
...so that Americans sentenced
in those countries can come home.
79
00:05:08,663 --> 00:05:10,464
For Billy Hayes, there was no treaty.
80
00:05:10,631 --> 00:05:14,268
Just the prison slang for escape:
"Midnight Express."
81
00:05:14,435 --> 00:05:16,704
To be back out here today
among these people...
82
00:05:16,871 --> 00:05:19,540
I know they're actors,
and I know we're on a set.
83
00:05:19,707 --> 00:05:22,176
But my gut feeling
is that fear comes back...
84
00:05:22,343 --> 00:05:24,579
...that I lived with every day
for five years.
85
00:05:24,779 --> 00:05:27,782
Look at the Turkish policeman.
I know they've got uniforms on.
86
00:05:27,949 --> 00:05:29,817
I know that the set people
set them up.
87
00:05:30,017 --> 00:05:33,454
But they hit me. I was frightened
when I saw them before.
88
00:05:39,493 --> 00:05:43,531
Billy Hayes' exposé of prison conditions
and the story of his escape...
89
00:05:43,698 --> 00:05:48,069
...have created a world wide furor, both
in the press and in the courtroom.
90
00:05:48,236 --> 00:05:50,171
First the book, Midnight Express.
91
00:05:50,371 --> 00:05:52,874
And then a film, entered in
the Cannes Film Festival...
92
00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:54,775
...over strong Turkish objections.
93
00:05:54,942 --> 00:05:57,345
In Holland, Turkish representatives
sought in court...
94
00:05:57,511 --> 00:05:59,146
...to ban Midnight Express...
95
00:05:59,313 --> 00:06:02,550
...but the judge there ruled
that this movie will be shown.
96
00:06:02,717 --> 00:06:06,020
It's just amazing after so many years,
five years of waiting and waiting.
97
00:06:06,187 --> 00:06:07,722
My wife and I couldn't believe it.
98
00:06:07,889 --> 00:06:10,424
All of a sudden, we got
a telephone call one morning...
99
00:06:10,591 --> 00:06:13,194
...that he had escaped
and was on his way home.
100
00:06:13,361 --> 00:06:16,864
Just out of this world.
We're very happy.
101
00:06:17,031 --> 00:06:21,168
It's a cliché, but it's true. You never
know what you have till you lose it.
102
00:06:21,335 --> 00:06:25,273
All of the things that I took for granted
in my daily life before I was arrested...
103
00:06:25,439 --> 00:06:28,609
...I appreciate now to a degree
that I never had before.
104
00:06:28,876 --> 00:06:31,279
Because I'm healthy,
I'm alive and I'm free.
105
00:06:31,445 --> 00:06:34,682
So why get upset? "Why sweat
the small stuff?" as he says.
106
00:06:34,849 --> 00:06:37,852
I'm healthy, I'm alive and I'm free.
9550
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