INTERVIEWS
FROM HELL TO MOTHERWELL
The Scotsman Magazine - Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
The crisis in Democratic Republic of Congo continues unabated and thousands of
people are being killed, injured or displaced as fighting intensifies in areas
of the vast African nation. Scotland has accepted a number of DRC refugees
recently so I met with them in Motherwell to hear their stories and how they
escaped war.
THE KAREN OF BURMA
Yorkshire Post - Tuesday, January, 15th, 2008
I met Karen refugees living in Sheffield on the day they celebrated their New
Year. The Karen are one of the most oppressed ethnic minorities in
Burma/Myanmar and have waged an armed struggle against the ruling military
junta for 60 years.
WHY THE KING MUST GO
New Statesman - Monday, September 27th, 2007
In an exclusive interview in Kathmandu, the Maoist leader Chairman Prachanda
talked about revolution, overthrowing the King of Nepal and his use of child
soldiers during an armed struggle he waged in the Himalayan nation for more
than a decade.
CASUALTIES OF WAR
The Scotsman Magazine - Saturday, September 8th, 2007
Photographer Angela Catlin and I interviewed a number of soldiers and sailors
suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of their experiences
during war. We met with them at a place called Hollybush House in Ayr, a
centre run by the charity Combat Stress. Sadly, and despite the rising tide of
PTSD casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan, Hollybush House is one of the few
specialist centres in the UK offering help to war veterans with mental
illnesses.
WORST OF THE BUNCH
The Scotsman Magazine - Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Scottish artist Jan Nimmo spent some time in Ecuador documenting the
exploitation of banana workers who were shot and attacked for daring to go on
strike. She was sickened by what she witnessed and her powerful film
Bonita-Ugly Bananas provides an insight into what happens to workers with no
rights.
MY YEARS OF SLAVERY
Yorkshire Post - Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
Anne Singleton grew up in an unremarkable Yorkshire family, but by her early
20s she was a member of a terrorist organisation recruiting suicide bombers in
Iraq.
GLASTONBURY
The Herald Magazine - 5th June 2004
Michael Eavis is the leftfield farmer who has run the famous Glastonbury festival at his organic farm in Somerset for more than 30 years.
In doing so he has supported political causes such as CND and raised millions of pounds for a variety of charities including Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid.
I spent a day at Worthy Farm with Michael and his daughter Emily, who helps organise the world's most extraordinary and uplifting musical event. Download
© Paul Stuart & Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd
PASTOR DALY
The Herald Magazine - 19th February 2005
In Scotland there has been a concerted campaign against the government's treatment of asylum seekers and in particular the incarceration of children.
Pastor Makielokele Nzelengi Daly fled wartorn Angola with his wife, Isabell and their young children, Rachel, Josue, Linda, and Isaac, more than five years ago to seek asylum in the UK after he was asked to spy on his congregation for state police.
The African preacher has become an integral part of the community in Glasgow but despite this his family has faced deportation back to Angola. My interview with Pastor Daly provided a human face to asylum and highlighted issues facing thousands of people who have come to Britain for sanctuary. Download
© Chris Watt & Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd
HINER SALEEM
The Herald Magazine - 29th January 2005
Hiner Saleem's first memory is of watching his cousin being tied to the back of a jeep and dragged through the streets until he was a lifeless, bloody rag. Saleem was five years old but he remembers it well. Seven members of his family were murdered that day.
Now a film-maker and author Hiner has devoted his life to telling the world about the struggle of the Kurds.
I visited him at his home in Paris to hear about life under Saddam Hussein and how turned from the gun to the pen. Download
© Simon Murphy & Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd
MEDJUGORJE
The Herald Magazine - 10th May 2006
In June 1981 six children claimed the Virgin Mary appeared to them on a hill beside the village of Medjugorje high in the mountains of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The six Catholics say the Virgin Mary then appeared to them on a daily basis to deliver messages of peace to the world and to reveal ten secrets. I travelled to Medjugorje to interview one of the seers and to find out why the Vatican refuses to authenticate the apparitions, despite the fact that an estimated 20 million Catholic pilgrims have visited the town. Download
© Simon Murphy & Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd
