State secrets exposed in new thriller

The film is based on the book of the same name by Nick Schou and the book Dark Alliance by Gary Webb.

Jeremy Renner plays Gary Webb, an American journalist for a small newspaper who uncovers a massive state secret linking the Nicaraguan war to the drug trade in the USA. Publishing his findings garners Webb praise from the public and other news agencies, but before long questions are raised about his journalistic ethics and the validity of his sources. Kill the Messenger is a fast-paced thriller based on real-life events with explosive twists.

The premier also played host to Patricia Gerber, a passionate advocate for the transfer of South Africans from foreign prisons to domestic ones. Gerber’s own son has been locked up in a Mauritian prison since 2005 for being a drug decoy. Gerber explained that the difference between a drug mule and a decoy was that decoys were sent through customs with small amounts of drugs, so that they would be searched instead of the mule who was carrying the bulk of the drugs.

She said more than 1 300 South Africans were languishing in foreign prisons, mostly on drug related charges. In her campaign to get South African prisoners back on home soil through prison transfer agreements, Gerber has questioned why the South African government does not bring prisoners home. “These prisoners hold vital information and evidence of drug syndicates and traffickers. Is the government afraid of exposure?” she asked.

Do you think South Africans arrested in foreign countries should be brought home to serve out their sentence in South African prisons or should they have to serve their sentence in the country they were arrested in? Comment below, and let the Fourways Review know.