So, I recently went of the radio with my fellow co-leads of my pro-bono group to discuss the death penalty, a rather controversial topic to be listening to while you drive home from a busy day at work but nonetheless, that’s what we did. This was not something I was looking forward to, I’m not someone that strives for the limelight, I’d rather work hard, get on with what must be done and then take satisfaction in having been self-motivated but regardless, I was asked to do so and it could only benefit the process of raising awareness.
While many others I knew who also were requested to talk on the radio about legal matters had prepared a script, I decided that this was better prepared for by merely double checking facts I wanted to highlight and then having a natural response to the questions asked of me. I hoped this would make for a less rigid conversation and give off a more natural dialogue, and according to some friends that were listening, I was right! Phew, I’m glad I didn’t sound too much like an unprepared fool!
One of my fellow co-leads actually had a very personal connection to this cause, having been born and raised in Belarus, who still actively have the death penalty, and so at the very least I think that having him speak is rather interesting, listening to how worrying it is to be in a country where you can legally have you life taken away.
The process was rather simple, we were asked questions randomly and we just had to answer as well as we could with hopes that we shall at least spark some interest, as well as a little self-promotion of future events we plan to host. We ended up speaking for much longer than we expected to! 30 whole minutes!
The concept of the death penalty is one that many Britons don’t care about, we don’t have it so who cares? Well… I do. Yes, we are not residing in a country that still executes people however we can still be subjected to this, a perfect example being Lindsay Sandiford, an extremely interesting situation I highly encourage you all to investigate. Additionally, just because it isn’t us doesn’t mean it isn’t someone, that is someone’s child, parent, lover, etc. they may have committed a crime but is such suffering from everyone that knew and cared for that individual necessary? I personally don’t think so.
Regardless, I am under no delusion that there is opposition to my stance and that’s fine. Independent thinking is a good thing! But when an opportunity gets handed to you to do something to try and help a cause you strongly believe in, as much as I didn’t want to speak on such a public scale, you must grab it.
And so goes my rather unexpected adventure into public radio!
Photo by Filip Barna on Unsplash
The Law Student Diaries 