BILLY HAYES: "I PREFER TURKISH PRISONS TO THOSE OF AMERICA"

Noyan Tapan
Jun 19 2007

ISTANBUL, JUNE 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Billy Hayes, the real hero of the film
"Midnight Express", arrived in Istanbul on a seven-day visit.

At the press conference Hayes declared that the film "Midnight Express"
does not reflect reality: "The film has become the cause of having a
bad perception of the Turks and Turkey. There are great differences
between my book and the film. In reality, I did not kill anybody in
the Turkish prison and neither used the expression "Turks are swine"
in court.

Mentioning the fact that he was subjected to a serious beating on the
first night in the Turkish prison, Billy Hayes declared: "I committed
a crime. If I had the opportunity to choose, I will prefer Turkish
jails to those of America."

The real feelings of the American citizen Billy Hayes lie on the
basis of the film "Midnight Express", in which the demoralization
of Turkish jails and abuse made by the Turkish authorities are
demonstrated. Billy Hayes was detained in a Turkish airport in 1970
on the charge of sedative drug smuggling and since then he has been
serving his sentence in a Turkish prison…