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'Pardon Turing' Urge Scientists in Telegraph Letter

In a letter to the Telegraph, Prof Hawking and ten other signatories call on the Prime Minister to “formally forgive” Turing, whose work at Bletchley Park is widely credited with helping bring an end to the Second World War.
Turing died from cyanide poisoning in 1954 after being convicted of gross indecency at a time when homosexuality was still illegal, and an inquest found he had committed suicide.
Lord Sharkey, the Lib Dem peer and one of the signatories on today’s letter, introduced a private members bill in the House of Lords to grant the mathematical genius an official pardon this summer.
Other signatories include Lord Rees, the Astronomer Royal, Sir Paul Nurse, the head of the Royal Society, and Baroness Trumpington, who worked for Turing at Bletchley Park during the war.
An e-petition calling for Turing’s pardon closed with over 37,000 signatures on the 23rd of November.
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