Proven innocent until proven guilty
Presumed Innocent until proven Guilty
More than 20 years ago, Troy Davis, an African-American man from Georgia, was convicted of shooting and killing a police officer and was sentenced to death. Several years later, seven out of nine eyewitnesses completely revoked their stories. There was a clear lack of evidence that had proven him of his innocence, and therefore he was linked to the crime out of pure assumption. His legal team argued that he was just in the “wrong place at the wrong time” but Davis was ultimately executed based on the original jury verdict. Troy Davis maintained his innocence until his death by lethal injection in 2011. His last words to the family of the murdered officer were, “All I can ask is that you look deep into this case so you can really find the truth”.
This man, Troy Davis, is one of thousands of people worldwide that have been victims of this situation, being presumed guilty until proven innocent. He was not just put into prison, being deprived of his liberty and dignity; he was sentenced to death, being deprived of his life! Recent case studies show that in the United States alone more than 4% of all convictions are wrong. From 1973-2004 there were 7482 people who were sentenced to death and of those, 117 were innocent. Each year, 10 000 innocent people are wrongly convicted in the United States. Right there and then, innocent men and women are left with no futures. This is why I believe that all men should be rather presumed innocent until proven guilty, as sentencing an innocent person to death, is an even more guilt-bearing act in my opinion.
If you look around you, you are surrounded by life. It is the most valuable thing on our planet Earth. You are a representation of life yourself. Growing up and developing your life takes years, yet can be taken away from you in an instant because of something as stupid as false accusation? Who, then, is the real criminal? A man like Oscar Pistorius is a man fighting for his
More than 20 years ago, Troy Davis, an African-American man from Georgia, was convicted of shooting and killing a police officer and was sentenced to death. Several years later, seven out of nine eyewitnesses completely revoked their stories. There was a clear lack of evidence that had proven him of his innocence, and therefore he was linked to the crime out of pure assumption. His legal team argued that he was just in the “wrong place at the wrong time” but Davis was ultimately executed based on the original jury verdict. Troy Davis maintained his innocence until his death by lethal injection in 2011. His last words to the family of the murdered officer were, “All I can ask is that you look deep into this case so you can really find the truth”.
This man, Troy Davis, is one of thousands of people worldwide that have been victims of this situation, being presumed guilty until proven innocent. He was not just put into prison, being deprived of his liberty and dignity; he was sentenced to death, being deprived of his life! Recent case studies show that in the United States alone more than 4% of all convictions are wrong. From 1973-2004 there were 7482 people who were sentenced to death and of those, 117 were innocent. Each year, 10 000 innocent people are wrongly convicted in the United States. Right there and then, innocent men and women are left with no futures. This is why I believe that all men should be rather presumed innocent until proven guilty, as sentencing an innocent person to death, is an even more guilt-bearing act in my opinion.
If you look around you, you are surrounded by life. It is the most valuable thing on our planet Earth. You are a representation of life yourself. Growing up and developing your life takes years, yet can be taken away from you in an instant because of something as stupid as false accusation? Who, then, is the real criminal? A man like Oscar Pistorius is a man fighting for his