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Irish Innocence Project Hosts First International Wrongful Conviction and Human Rights Conference

Irish Innocence Project Hosts First International Wrongful Conviction and Human Rights Conference / First Ever Wrongful Conviction Film Fest, 26-27th June 2015 

Press Release
For Immedicate Release

Friday February 27th 2015 – An international delegation that includes world-renowned human rights lawyers, Hollywood directors, VIP delegates, celebrity journalists, exonerees and students will be part of the first Irish Innocence Project International Conference on Wrongful Convictions, Human Rights and the Student Learning Experience and Wrongful Conviction Film Festival on 26-27 June 2015 at Griffith College Dublin.

“This will be a spectacular lineup of conference speakers, films, Q&As with actors and directors and first-ever awards that shouldn’t be missed,” said David Langwallner, founding director of the Irish Innocence Project at Griffith College, whose home is, fittingly, a 200-year-old former prison where at least one man, Joseph Poole, is believed to have been wrongfully convicted, hanged and is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere on the grounds.

Highlights of the two-day program include a keynote address by Gareth Peirce, who successfully worked to overturn the convictions of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six, a special screening of In the Name of the Father with director Jim Sheridan, and the awarding of the first Gerry Conlon Memorial Law and Journalism Justice Student Scholarship Award by Gerry Conlon’s family.

In addition, there will be film screenings, with Q&As following, of:

• Convicted with Tony Goldwyn, who also created The Divide television series, and Betty Anne Waters, on whose story the film is based
• The Central Park Five with David McMahon, who co-directed the film along with Ken Burns and his wife Sarah Burns
• The Exonerated with director Bob Balaban, exoneree Sunny Jacobs and actor Aidan Quinn

Early bird tickets for both days are €100 until April 30th. Student rate is €75. For more information, go to Innocenceproject.ie.
About the Irish Innocence Project
The Irish Innocence Project at Griffith College was launched in September 2009 by David Langwallner, Dean of Law at Griffith College and barrister, who serves as founding director. The Irish Innocence Project investigates and seeks to overturn cases in which people claim to be factually innocent of the crimes for which they have been convicted by finding new or newly discovered evidence proving a miscarriage of justice under the mandate of the Criminal Procedure Act 1993 and/or the posthumous pardon procedure. It is one of 68 projects recognized globally by the Innocence Network and one of two such projects that has both law and journalism students working cooperatively on cases. The Irish Innocence Project currently has 21 students from Griffith College, Trinity College and Dublin City University working on about 30 cases under the supervision of nine pro-bono lawyers. The services of the project are provided free and it was recently recognized as a tax-exempt charity in Ireland by Revenue.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Anne Driscoll
Irish Innocence Project Journalism Project Manager
Mob. 0870696613 / anne.driscoll@gcd.ie

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