Dubai Telegraph - US death row inmate stages jazz protest for release in London court

EUR -
AED 3.866955
AFN 72.068071
ALL 97.96268
AMD 410.784813
ANG 1.912938
AOA 960.166791
ARS 1050.977028
AUD 1.628194
AWG 1.895066
AZN 1.800113
BAM 1.951452
BBD 2.143046
BDT 126.837419
BGN 1.957984
BHD 0.396768
BIF 3134.302207
BMD 1.052814
BND 1.418533
BOB 7.334659
BRL 6.108712
BSD 1.061445
BTN 89.497258
BWP 14.401914
BYN 3.473644
BYR 20635.162949
BZD 2.139048
CAD 1.474709
CDF 3016.313099
CHF 0.936552
CLF 0.037221
CLP 1027.051998
CNY 7.626693
CNH 7.636047
COP 4722.441266
CRC 541.992496
CUC 1.052814
CUP 27.899583
CVE 110.019887
CZK 25.285451
DJF 189.010699
DKK 7.458232
DOP 63.927576
DZD 140.602323
EGP 51.954531
ERN 15.792217
ETB 129.54359
FJD 2.396153
FKP 0.831004
GBP 0.831932
GEL 2.874049
GGP 0.831004
GHS 17.14181
GIP 0.831004
GMD 74.749535
GNF 9147.446645
GTQ 8.201727
GYD 222.065261
HKD 8.193407
HNL 26.797298
HRK 7.509998
HTG 139.558415
HUF 407.071782
IDR 16789.442377
ILS 3.937437
IMP 0.831004
INR 88.927393
IQD 1390.422091
IRR 44315.590814
ISK 146.320304
JEP 0.831004
JMD 168.035634
JOD 0.746657
JPY 164.155901
KES 136.076314
KGS 90.938425
KHR 4300.398724
KMF 490.980229
KPW 947.532593
KRW 1478.583067
KWD 0.323877
KYD 0.884542
KZT 523.161902
LAK 23310.28845
LBP 95050.394414
LKR 310.231782
LRD 200.038234
LSL 19.067501
LTL 3.108687
LVL 0.636837
LYD 5.142592
MAD 10.553787
MDL 19.12657
MGA 4952.965296
MKD 61.587323
MMK 3419.500221
MNT 3577.463398
MOP 8.504175
MRU 42.253863
MUR 49.682017
MVR 16.265744
MWK 1840.499554
MXN 21.732343
MYR 4.717137
MZN 67.225692
NAD 19.067591
NGN 1773.445042
NIO 39.062787
NOK 11.757716
NPR 143.221916
NZD 1.79557
OMR 0.405343
PAB 1.061435
PEN 4.022838
PGK 4.266414
PHP 61.952874
PKR 294.912167
PLN 4.338674
PYG 8283.623607
QAR 3.869779
RON 4.976547
RSD 116.989756
RUB 105.284944
RWF 1456.854276
SAR 3.954354
SBD 8.826328
SCR 14.338018
SDG 633.269213
SEK 11.615333
SGD 1.41702
SHP 0.831004
SLE 24.019979
SLL 22076.997306
SOS 606.548671
SRD 37.143033
STD 21791.133205
SVC 9.287441
SYP 2645.227706
SZL 19.073506
THB 36.88328
TJS 11.309365
TMT 3.695379
TND 3.340757
TOP 2.465795
TRY 36.162891
TTD 7.213033
TWD 34.312064
TZS 2805.750792
UAH 43.849907
UGX 3895.321618
USD 1.052814
UYU 44.750301
UZS 13578.747927
VES 48.129878
VND 26741.486679
VUV 124.992245
WST 2.939027
XAF 654.498843
XAG 0.035116
XAU 0.000412
XCD 2.845283
XDR 0.799619
XOF 654.505046
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.98619
ZAR 19.314955
ZMK 9476.595013
ZMW 29.03459
ZWL 339.005819
  • RBGPF

    59.2500

    59.25

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.3000

    13.37

    -2.24%

  • CMSD

    -0.0200

    24.73

    -0.08%

  • GSK

    -0.4100

    35.11

    -1.17%

  • CMSC

    0.0700

    24.61

    +0.28%

  • VOD

    0.2800

    8.75

    +3.2%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0400

    7.07

    -0.57%

  • RIO

    -0.5800

    60.62

    -0.96%

  • NGG

    -0.7800

    62.12

    -1.26%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.42

    +0.51%

  • BCE

    -0.4800

    27.21

    -1.76%

  • AZN

    0.1000

    65.29

    +0.15%

  • RELX

    -0.4700

    46.12

    -1.02%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.24

    +0.15%

  • BCC

    1.4200

    142.55

    +1%

  • BP

    0.4100

    28.57

    +1.44%

US death row inmate stages jazz protest for release in London court
US death row inmate stages jazz protest for release in London court / Photo: Adrian DENNIS - AFP

US death row inmate stages jazz protest for release in London court

Some of Britain's most notorious cases have been tried at London's Old Bailey, including those attracting the death penalty until the punishment was abolished in the 1960s.

Text size:

This week, capital crimes returned to the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, with a musical protest proclaiming the innocence of a prisoner who has spent decades on death row in the United States.

Tuesday's jazz concert in the hallowed halls of the imposing court featured Spanish pianist Albert Marques, with Keith LaMar joining from his cell at a maximum state prison in Youngstown, Ohio, reading poems.

"Concerts create an empathy that sometimes encourages people to get involved," Marques told AFP in an interview before the show. "That's the power of music."

Marques, 38, has lived in New York since 2011 and learned about LaMar's story from a book that he wrote from solitary confinement, "Condemned", published in 2014.

In it, LaMar mentions that the music of jazz musician John Coltrane kept him sane. "So I came up with the idea of doing concert-demonstrations," said the pianist, who grew up near Barcelona.

LaMar, who is black, was convicted by an all-white jury in 1995 of playing a key role in the deaths of other inmates in a 1993 prison riot, one of the worst in US history.

Marques said he is convinced of his innocence and joined forces with a campaign group calling for his release.

"I think everything we're doing will lead to his release, which will also clear up similar cases," he added.

"That's why they (the US authorities) are so resistant. It's a house of cards and if he succeeds, everything falls."

- Execution postponed -

LaMar was due to be executed on November 16, 2023 but he earned a reprieve until January 2027 because of a lack of component chemicals for his lethal injection, according to the Ohio authorities.

Ten people -- nine inmates and a prison guard -- died in the riot. LaMar, who was convicted of killing five, was said to have organised the unrest.

But Marques said: "There's no material evidence, only accusations from other prisoners against him in exchange for sentence reductions."

LaMar had been in prison since he was 19 for the murder of an old friend in a drug dispute in the 1980s in his native Cleveland but his supporters say that conviction is also unsafe.

The first concert-demonstration for LaMar's release was held in August 2020 at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York.

Marques played music while LaMar recited verse from his cell.

From street concerts, the pair have since played in venues, particularly universities, across the United States, in Latin America and Europe.

- Close friendship -

Marques describes LaMar as "one of my best friends" and has visited him several times, despite the 400 miles (640 kilometres) that separates New York and Youngstown.

"Freedom First", the name of the concerts, is also the name of the pair's first album, which came out in 2022.

LaMar, now 55, told AFP in a phone interview last year that music can help get his case known to a wider audience. "With that comes more support and more public demand," he added.

Some 80 musicians have since been involved in the project. On Tuesday, the pair were joined by American saxophonist Jean Toussaint, who lives in London.

The gig was organised by British charity Amicus, which campaigns against the death penalty in the United States.

The project has earned Marques and LaMar two awards and led to a book about the experience. The pair's second album is due out in May next year.

I.Khan--DT