William "Billy" Hayes (born April 3, 1947) is an American writer, actor, and film director. He is best known for his autobiographical book '' Midnight Express'' about his experiences in and escape from a Turkish prison, after being convicted of smuggling

hashish Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitoring ...

. He was one of hundreds of US citizens in foreign jails serving drug charge sentences, following a drug-smuggling crackdown by foreign governments.

Background

Hayes, an American student, was caught trying to smuggle four pounds (1.81 kg) of

out of Turkey on October 7, 1970. He was originally sentenced to four years and two months in a Turkish prison. With his release date weeks away, he learned that the authorities had chosen to penalize him with a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes ...

for smuggling, instead of possession. Hayes was imprisoned at Sağmalcılar prison in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

after having spent one night in

Sultanahmet Jail Sultanahmet Jail ( tr, Sultanahmet Cezaevi), a former prison in Istanbul, Turkey, is now the luxury Four Seasons Hotel at Sultanahmet. It is located in Sultanahmet neighborhood of Fatih district on the historical peninsula. History Built in 19 ...

. Following an incident in prison, he was transferred in 1972 to Bakırköy Psychiatric Hospital, described as a 'lunatic asylum'. On several occasions, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

pressured Turkey to transfer sentencing to the United States; however, Turkish foreign minister

Melih Esenbel Melih Rauf Esenbel (March 15, 1915 – July 27, 1995) was a Turkish diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs. Early years Melih Rauf was born 1915 in Istanbul. He was educated in law at Istanbul University following his graduation from Gal ...

stated that the US was not in a position to dispute a sentence issued by a Turkish court.HAYES CASE / 190938Z MAR 75
U.S. State Department telegram, Ankara, March 1975. He stated privately to officials that a release might be possible on humanitarian grounds, if Hayes' physical or mental health was deteriorating, but in a private consultation, Hayes stated to US diplomats that his experience at Bakırköy was highly traumatic, and he did not have confidence that the hospital would certify him for early release; Hayes also stated that he felt attempts to win early release would jeopardize his prospects of being transferred to a more desirable half-open prison. On May 12, 1975, the Turkish Constitutional Court declared amnesty for all drug offenses, which shortened Hayes' sentence from life to 30 years; he was transferred to

İmralı prison İmralı prison is an F-Type high security prison on the island of İmralı in the Sea of Marmara in Turkey. It is currently used as a prison for a few prisoners from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and one prisoner of the Communist Party of ...

on July 11, 1975. Declassified telegrams from the State Department indicated that in discussions between the US embassy and Vahap Aşıroğlu, Turkish Director of Consular Affairs, the latter believed Hayes would probably be released from prison on parole in October 1978, which in practice meant that a local prosecutor would declare him

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

and expel him from the country. Hayes escaped from İmralı on October 2, 1975, taking a rowboat at night to Bandirma, blending in with locals, and then heading westbound across the border to Greece. After over two weeks of detention and interrogation to determine whether he possessed any useful intelligence about Turkey's military, he was deported from

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

on October 20; after interrogation by US authorities in Frankfurt, Hayes spent several days in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, and then returned to the United States.

Book

Hayes wrote a book on his experiences, '' Midnight Express'', which was later adapted into the 1978 film of the same name starring Brad Davis as Hayes. The film was directed by

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

, with a screenplay by

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

. The movie differs from Hayes' account in his book. Among the differences is a scene invented by Stone in which Hayes kills the prison guard Hamidou 'the Bear' (portrayed by Paul L. Smith), the main antagonist of the story. In fact, the prison guard was killed in 1973 by another person entirely, a recently released prisoner, whose family Hamidou had insulted while beating the prisoner; this took place years before Hayes' actual escape. In 2010, in an episode of

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

's ''

Locked Up Abroad ''Banged Up Abroad'' (rebadged as ''Locked Up Abroad'' in Asia and the United States, and ''Jailed Abroad'' in India, for the National Geographic Channel) is a British documentary/docudrama television series created by Bart Layton that was prod ...

'', titled "The Real Midnight Express", Hayes finally told his fully accurate version of being sent to the infamous Turkish prison in Sağmalcilar, eventually escaping from

on an island in the

Marmara Sea The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

. Hayes has since written the sequels ''Midnight Return (Escaping Midnight Express)'' and ''The Midnight Express Letters - from a Turkish Prison, 1970-1975'', the latter a collection of the original letters written home to family and friends during his imprisonment.

Acting and writing

Hayes is still active in the entertainment industry, specifically acting and writing. He appeared in the

Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his "granite features and brawny physique," he gained international fame for his starring roles in action, Western, and wa ...

1987 film ''Assassination'', as a hired killer. One of Hayes' successes was writing and directing 2003's ''Southside'' (later released in the US as ''A Cock and Bull Story'') which won numerous awards, including the 2002 L.A. Drama Critics' Circle award. On June 30, 2010, the National Geographic television channel aired '' Locked Up Abroad: The Real Midnight Express''. Hayes has been traveling the world with his one-man show, ''Riding the Midnight Express with Billy Hayes'', since it premiered at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in August 2013.

Interview on ''Midnight Express'' film

During the 1999

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

, Alinur Velidedeoğlu, a Turkish advertiser, met Hayes by chance and interviewed him on the film ''Midnight Express''. Hayes expressed his disappointment with parts of the film adaptation, especially its portrayal of all Turks as bad, and his regret that Turkey's image was negatively affected by the film. Hayes also displayed affection for Turkey and the city of Istanbul. Although the

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...

warrant for him had by then been lifted, Hayes explained that while he wanted to return, he hesitated to do so, out of concern that many Turks might blame him for the negative publicity the movie had generated.Handelman, Stephen
"Revisiting the land of 'Midnight Express'"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...

'', June 24, 2007 The video was made available on YouTube. The Turkish order banning him from the country was finally suspended and Hayes was allowed to return to Turkey on June 14, 2007, to attend the 2nd Istanbul Conference on Democracy and Global Security, organized by the

Turkish National Police The General Directorate of Security ( tr, Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü) or Turkish Police Service ( tr, Türk Polis Teşkilatı) is the national civilian police force responsible for law enforcement of the Republic of Turkey, which is affiliated w ...

(TNP) and the Turkish Institute for Police Studies (TIPS). Hayes said it was important to him to return, in order to "apologize and 'make amends' – not for the book he wrote, but for the movie, scripted by Oliver Stone, on which it was based. 'The film wasn't what Turkish people deserved,' Hayes told reporters at a jammed June 15 press conference, explaining that it painted an unfairly bleak portrait of the country."

References

External links