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Alan Turing gets royal pardon Artsapat Send a noteboard - 24/12/2013 09:06:21 AM

I knicked the text from the Guardian, as it was the first English speaking site I found with the news. I copied only the first four paragraphs, check out the rest yourself in the link below.
Really glad when I heard this, just as I was when Gordon Brown issued apologies a couple of years ago.


Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing receives royal pardon

Mathematician lost his job and was given experimental 'chemical castration' after being convicted for homosexual activity in 1952

Alan Turing, the second world war codebreaker who took his own life after undergoing chemical castration following a conviction for homosexual activity, has been granted a posthumous royal pardon 59 years after his death.

The brilliant mathematician, who played a major role in breaking the Enigma code – which arguably shortened the war by at least two years – has been granted a pardon under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy by the Queen, following a request from the justice secretary, Chris Grayling.

Turing was considered to be the father of modern computer science and was most famous for his work in helping to create the "bombe" that cracked messages enciphered with the German Enigma machines. He was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 after admitting a sexual relationship with a man.

He was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment". His criminal record resulted in the loss of his security clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), where he had been employed following service at Bletchley Park during the war. He died of cyanide poisoning in 1954, aged 41.

The mystery deepens... I think. *MySmiley*
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Alan Turing gets royal pardon - 24/12/2013 09:06:21 AM 854 Views
I didn't know any of that. What a travesty. *NM* - 26/12/2013 03:18:05 PM 342 Views
I agree with the staement near the bottom of the article - 26/12/2013 04:21:13 PM 452 Views
I'm on the fence on this one - 27/12/2013 08:13:18 AM 641 Views
If a crime is so ridiculous that outcry changes the law... - 27/12/2013 12:34:28 PM 517 Views
Well, what is the purpose of a pardon? - 30/12/2013 09:31:01 PM 495 Views
I am too, though not necessarily for the same reason. - 30/12/2013 11:19:26 PM 433 Views

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