THE JOYS OF FREEDOM

"Two Turkish immigrants who were reduced to begging on the streets after being released from prison are pleading with authorities to send them back to jail, judicial sources said Wednesday. Sahin Eren and Erden Vardar were arrested in July, 2006 in southern Spain in possession of 11 kilogrammes (24 pounds) of heroin. But confusion over their date of arrest forced a judge to release them in July as the two-year legal period of preventive detention had passed. Since then, the two men have begged on the streets of Madrid, where they sleep in a Red Cross hostel. They have pleaded with the judge to send them back to prison, a request he denied as they have not been convicted and sentenced." (Yahoo News, 1 October) RD