Original subtitles

Millions of Americans pass each other on the sidewalks of our cities each day.

Few are aware of who the other is, what kind of work he does...

...what his problems are.

For most, things are routine.

They take for granted the right to walk that street...

...protected by a system of laws that guarantees certain freedoms...

...and that those freedoms won't be taken away without a fair trial...

...fair treatment and punishment that fits the crime.

This young man is an exception.

In 1970, when he was 20 years old...

...he was arrested in Turkey and found out the hard way...

...that the American constitution doesn't fit inside your passport...

...when you make a mistake overseas.

His experiences with the laws of another country...

...are almost beyond comprehension.

The retelling of his adventures is Just a reminder of what can happen.

Dear Mom and Dad:

This is the hardest letter I've ever had to write.

I'd hoped somehow to get out of this quickly...

...so that you'd never have to know about it.

The voice is that of an actor, Brad Davis...

...and the scenes are from a movie, Midnight Express...

...based on the story of the person he's portraying, Billy Hayes.

The words were written in a letter to Billy's parents...

...the day after his arrest at the Istanbul airport.

I guess one of the first feelings I had was surprise.

Because it's the last thing in the world I expected to have happen.

This foolish confidence I had. Suddenly the sky fell onto my head...

...and I was being arrested.

Get down, get down.

Don't panic. Oh, God, don't panic.

How can this happen? Other people get arrested.

Not you and I, other people.

All of a sudden, I was one of the other people...

...and it was a shock. Quite a shock.

It took a while, I think, before the full effect really began to seep in on me.

That I've been arrested. That I'm really gonna be in here.

I think I was just...

I was numbed, really, more than anything, initially.

I don't know what's gonna happen. But what can I say to you?

Will "I'm sorry" make a difference? Will it ease the pain?

Hayes had been charged with possession...

...of a small quantity of hashish at a Turkish airport.

First, he was sentenced to five years in a prison cell such as this one...

...constructed in Malta for the making of the movie.

Just days before his scheduled release...

...a Turkish appeals court threw out the five-year sentence...

...and ordered that he be confined to life.

A sympathetic judge reduced that to 30 years.

And then, Billy escaped. He did it on his own...

...because he was beyond the help of just about everyone.

As is often the case, his own government couldn't do a thing.

-What's wrong? -Sit down for a moment, Billy.

I'm afraid I have some bad news for you.

He was beyond the reach of the girl who loved him.

Billy, what have they done to you?

-He was beyond the help of his parents. -Billy, if I could be where you are...

...I'd be there.

Like 2000 other Americans who are currently in foreign prisons...

...Billy Hayes was very much alone.

It's a common core for anybody that has gone out of the United States...

...and has faced just a custom's inspector who says:

"What's in the bag? Move over there. I wanna do an inspection."

You immediately become defensive, you immediately become nervous...

...because you don't realize, except viscerally, how vulnerable you are.

On the set of the movie...

...Hayes reflected about what he had seen and what he had survived.

I realize that what I did was wrong.

It was obviously stupid.

Cost me five years of my life.

But I think the punishment should fit the crime.

The U.N. and Amnesty International report dozens of nations...

...including Turkey, still retain archaic prison systems and use torture.

Recent pressure from American parents...

...and support from a handful of congressional leaders...

...have brought about prisoner exchange treaties...

...with Mexico and Canada...

...so that Americans sentenced in those countries can come home.

For Billy Hayes, there was no treaty.

Just the prison slang for escape: "Midnight Express."

To be back out here today among these people...

I know they're actors, and I know we're on a set.

But my gut feeling is that fear comes back...

...that I lived with every day for five years.

Look at the Turkish policeman. I know they've got uniforms on.

I know that the set people set them up.

But they hit me. I was frightened when I saw them before.

Billy Hayes' exposé of prison conditions and the story of his escape...

...have created a world wide furor, both in the press and in the courtroom.

First the book, Midnight Express.

And then a film, entered in the Cannes Film Festival...

...over strong Turkish objections.

In Holland, Turkish representatives sought in court...

...to ban Midnight Express...

...but the judge there ruled that this movie will be shown.

It's just amazing after so many years, five years of waiting and waiting.

My wife and I couldn't believe it.

All of a sudden, we got a telephone call one morning...

...that he had escaped and was on his way home.

Just out of this world. We're very happy.

It's a cliché, but it's true. You never know what you have till you lose it.

All of the things that I took for granted in my daily life before I was arrested...

...I appreciate now to a degree that I never had before.

Because I'm healthy, I'm alive and I'm free.

So why get upset? "Why sweat the small stuff?" as he says.

I'm healthy, I'm alive and I'm free.