Buju Banton received a warm welcome from adoring fans in Jamaica following his release from Georgia’s private McRae Correctional institution after serving eight years.

The 45-year-old reggae star– born Mark Myrie — was freed Friday, a prison official told the Tampa Bay Times, and video of Banton boarding a plane was published on Twitter. He was expected to return to his native Jamaica and various clips online show him greeting fans near his Red Hills Road studio in Kingston.

The Guardian wrote that Banton would be the “most eagerly awaited arrival in Jamaica since Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie touched down in April 1966.”

The Grammy award-winning icon was convicted in a Tampa courtroom in 2011 on federal drug charges and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He was reportedly the target of an undercover federal informant for more than a year. Prosecutors required two trials to convict the Dancehall star. His initial release date was February 2019, but was later revised to December 8, 2018.

Buju recently released a statement saying that upon release he plans to focus only on his artistry.

“Having survived, I want to share the good news and strength of my music. I just want to continue making music, which I’ve devoted my life to. I look forward to the opportunity to say a personal thanks to my fans and everyone who supported me,” Buju said.

Jamaica’s culture minister, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, says Banton “is now really about, from what we understand, employment of young people. If he can help shape and resocialize young people, that is something we should embrace.”

But the minister of national security, Horace Chang, cautioned against giving him “ a hero’s welcome.”

“He committed a crime,” Shang added. And Grange agrees, “There’s no getting over the fact that he was convicted, but Buju was loved long before he was convicted and he will be loved just the same, even if he comes home in handcuffs.” </s> Buju Banton was released from CI McRae Federal Prison in Georgia on December 7, a prison officer confirmed to Heavy.com. Banton served seven years of a 10-year sentence on drug charges. Banton, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, 45, was found guilty in February 2011 and sentenced in June of that year for conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute. On December 8, Banton is expected to fly home to Kingston, Jamaica, from Miami.

Among those welcoming Banton home will be his father, Benjamin Myrie, who told Loop on December 7, “It’s a joy for me, joyful, to know that the Lord had blessed me that I live to see him come back. I can see his face, talk, eat, drink and move around. He’ll be able to take care of all of his business now.”

Banton is arguably as famous worldwide for his homophobia, epitomized in his 1992 song, “Boom Bye Bye,” in which Banton wrote about murdering gay people. In 2011, Banton signed the Reggae Compassion Act, a government action in Jamaica in which artists promised to not “incite hatred or violence” through songs or statements.

Banton said in a statement to the Guardian that he has new material that is ready to record. The singer said in a statement to the Guardian that his prison stay was “traumatizing not just on myself, but on my family as well as emotionally draining. For me, I drew strength from immersing myself in my situation. Do not live in yesterday but live in today. And education was the only thing that kept me up and alive. I immersed my self in reading so much – theology, philosophy and other subjects.” In the same feature, Jamaica’s minister for culture, Olivia “Babsy” Grange said, “Buju was loved long before he was convicted and he will be loved just the same, even if he comes home in handcuffs.” The article also described Banton’s homecoming as being the most anticipated in Jamaica’s history since Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie visited the country in April 1966.

READ NEXT: Michigan School Teachers Admit to Being Porn Stars on the Side </s> Legendary Reggae and Dancehall superstar Buju Banton officially released from prison. After his release he has returned to his home country of Jamaica, video footage below courtesty of Vladtv. </s> Dancehall and Reggae star Buju Banton is free.

Banton, who was convicted in a Tampa courtroom in 2011 on federal drug charges, was freed Friday from Georgia's private McMcRae Correctional Institute, a prison official told the Tampa Bay Times.

The 45-year-old music star was to return to his native Jamaica. A video of a man reported to be Banton boarding a plane was published on Twitter on Friday and #freebuju hashtags were all over social media.

Born Mark Myrie, he served seven years in federal prison in one of the most high-profile cases tried in the Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse in downtown Tampa.

The Guardian wrote that Banton would be the "most eagerly awaited arrival in Jamaica since Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie touched down in April 1966." Jamaican officials confirmed to the British newspaper that the artist was expected to return to his native country.

The newspaper described Banton as "perhaps the most famous Jamaican artist whose name isn't Marley."

Reared in Kingston and nicknamed "Buju" by his mother, he rose to prominence at a young age in the 1990s as one of the premier dancehall artists. He overtook Reggae legend Bob Marley's record for No. 1 singles on the Jamaican charts in 1992, according to the Guardian.

But Banton was also the subject of international condemnation for a violently homophobic song that "openly incited the killing of gay people," according to the Guardian. As a result, 28 of his shows were cancelled from 2005 to 2011. In 2007, the newspaper said he vowed to never again incite "hatred or violence."

His legal troubles started on a 2009 flight from Spain to the United States. Banton was seated next to an informant who federal agents had paid $3.3 million over 14 years. The prosecution said Banton boasted of his role in a large cocaine smuggling ring, and talked to the informant about setting up a deal.

The trial started on Feb. 14, 2011, the day after he won a Grammy for best reggae album, Before the Dawn, recorded before his arrest.

At his Tampa trial, federal prosecutors showed the jury audio and video recordings of Banton that they said proved he was involved in the deal to buy 11 pounds of cocaine for $135,000.

One video showed the performer tasting cocaine at a Sarasota warehouse on Dec. 8, 2009, though he was not present when the deal was finalized.

Banton told the jury that he was just boasting to impress someone who he believed could help his music career.

The defense emphasized Banton's musical career, displaying his album covers, telling jurors about his Grammy award and even calling one of Bob Marley's sons to the stand.

"This is not about Buju Banton, the reggae singer," a prosecutor told the jury. "This is about Mark Myrie, the drug defendant."

In June 2011 he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

During the trial, while Banton was being held in the Pinellas County jail, he wrote this letter to the court:

"The days that lie ahead are filled with despair, but I have courage and grace and I'm hopeful, and that is sufficient to carry me through. The man is not dead. Don't call him a ghost."

Banton's case and appeals would drag on for years in federal court, however, and even one of the jurors in his 2011 conviction would end up in serious trouble years later.

Former juror foreman Terri Wright was found guilty in 2015 of contempt for researching the case outside of court. U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr., who also presided over the Banton trial, sentenced her to five months of probation, 40 hours of community service and ordered her to research and write a report about the cost of Banton's high-profile trial.

Former Miami New Times reporter Chris Sweeney wrote a story in 2012 that suggested Wright ignored the court's order and researched the case on her own. The reporter even testified the juror.

Times staff writer Anastasia Dawson contributed to this report, which uses information from Times files and other news organizations. </s> The most eagerly awaited arrival in Jamaica since Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie touched down in April 1966 might just be this weekend’s return of Mark Myrie, better known as Buju Banton.

Myrie, perhaps the most famous Jamaican artist whose name isn’t Marley, has served seven years in a US prison after being found guilty of intent to deal more than 5kg of cocaine. On 8 December, the gravelly voiced rastafari artist will be put on a plane in Florida and flown to Kingston to a nation that has been eagerly awaiting this moment.

Jamaica’s culture minister, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, reports that Banton “is now really about, from what we understand, employment of young people. If he can help shape and resocialise young people, that is something we should embrace.”

That said, the government isn’t pulling out any stops. “We can’t give him a hero’s welcome,” says minister of national security, Horace Chang. “He committed a crime.” And yes, Grange agrees, “There’s no getting over the fact that he was convicted, but Buju was loved long before he was convicted and he will be loved just the same, even if he comes home in handcuffs.”

Raised in Salt Lane, a poor area of Kingston, the man nicknamed Buju by his mother honed his craft as a child, performing live with soundsystems under the name Gargamel aged 12 and recording by the following year, 1987. Jamaica fell for Banton in the early 90s, when he established himself as arguably the most significant dancehall artist in the country.

Banton was beloved for his baritone grit, raunchy songs such as his ode to short shorts, Batty Rider, and his responsiveness to his audience. When some fans felt excluded by his hit Love Me Browning, about a penchant for lighter-skinned women, he followed it up with the equally catchy Love Black Women.

Reggae artist Protoje says: “There is nothing that he cannot do musically. He’s a prodigy. He was awesome from 18 years old. He is one of the greatest artists to ever do it in Jamaican music, so I would never count him out.”

In 1992, he overtook Bob Marley’s record for No 1 singles in Jamaica and signed with Mercury Records. Less happily, he also released the most infamous Jamaican song ever recorded, Boom Bye Bye, which openly incited the killing of gay people. It received local and international condemnation, culminating in the the Stop Murder Music Campaign, organised by UK group OutRage! in collaboration with Jamaican LGBT-rights group JFLAG.

The campaign ultimately led to concert cancellations – 28 of Banton’s were cancelled between 2005 and 2011. In June 2007, he signed the Reggae Compassionate Act, which meant he agreed “to not make statements or perform songs that incite hatred or violence against anyone from any community”.

Banton wrote Boom Bye Bye when he was 15, and has since found other lyrical topics. In 1995, he released the critically adored ’Til Shiloh, which embraced rastafari consciousness and demonstrated his versatility, as fluent in hardcore dancehall as roots reggae.

Since his imprisonment in 2011, a new generation of reggae artists have gained global success, and Banton will have to compete with with likes of Jah 9, Raging Fyah and Kabaka Pyramid; Chronixx and Protoje drew 10,000 fans to London’s Alexandra Palace only last month. “The last album he released prior to his incarceration was Before the Dawn, for which he won a Grammy,” notes Sonjah Stanley Niaah, author of Dancehall: From Slaveship to Ghetto. “What’s interesting to me is that Buju will have to come to terms as a stage presence with a reggae revival.”

Artist of the moment Spice, real name Grace Hamilton, is excited about what might accompany Banton’s return: “It is extremely significant to the genre because his music uplifts our roots and culture. His first concert in Jamaica will prove that. I’m sure mass amount of tourists will travel to our island just to see the great Gargamel.” Banton’s Long Walk to Freedom tour (named after Nelson Mandela’s autobiography) will reportedly begin in Jamaica on 23 March.

It’s rumoured that Banton has been writing songs and reaching out to potential collaborators. There is at least one album that is ready to go. UK producer Blacker Dread released the tantalising Stumbling Block single last year, one of a range of tracks recorded in the early 2000s, put off due to the death of Dread’s son in 2004 and then Banton’s imprisonment. “Man is a king,” says Dread, “I have tracks with Buju that are timeless.”

Unlike the similarly revered dancehall artist Vybz Kartel – whose 2014 conviction for murder led to a life sentence that will see him serve at least 35 years, yet who still seems to be able to release track after track – Banton has been all but silent. In a statement to the Guardian, he described the impact of imprisonment and his means of coping. “Prison can be traumatising not just on myself, but on my family as well as emotionally draining,” he explained, “For me, I drew strength from immersing myself in my situation. Do not live in yesterday but live in today. And education was the only thing that kept me up and alive. I immersed myself in reading so much – theology, philosophy and other subjects.”

Human rights activist and former member of OutRage! Peter Tatchell is confident that Banton will continue to put the past behind him, stating that “it would be even better if he could acknowledge and apologise for those violently homophobic lyrics, but the main priority is that he doesn’t continue and repeat them.” Dane Lewis, former director of JFLAG, states that “the reality is that [in Jamaica] the most vulnerable continue to face some extreme forms of homophobia ... but in the last 10 years we have seen some shifts regarding homophobia and the ways LGBT in the region experience life.”

In many ways, Banton is coming home to a vastly different Jamaica. The Kingston he knew is now populated by shiny new high-rises; the economy is healthier with record low unemployment, and the music scene is always changing, with the UN designating reggae as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage”, soca-soundtracked Trinidadian-influenced Carnival exploding in popularity, and major radio stations blaring top 40 music from the US. Yet Banton, even if only musically, will likely slip back in with ease.

Rory Gilligan, a founding member of the famed Stone Love soundsystem, which helped establish Banton’s career, says the artist will have a relatively seamless transition, at least in comparison to other involuntarily returned citizens. According to Oswald Dawkins, president of the National Organization for Deported Migrants, about 1,500 people are involuntarily returned to Jamaica from the US, the UK and Canada every year. “I think he will adjust very easily. He has no financial problems. He has the resources,” Gilligan says. “There is nobody who has anything bad to say about him.”

DJ Agent Sasco might agree, especially when it comes to the airwaves and dancehalls, which are crying out for fresh Banton tracks. Sasco – whose first recording was produced at Banton’s Gargamel studio – insists that the star will likely bring a sound that is unique to the present. “Don’t expect that it is going to be 2006 or 1994, but just to take him in 2019 and wherever he is at as a person and an artist,” he counsels. Then again, in the rush of enthusiasm for his return, whatever Banton releases is due a rapturous reception: “He could put out a single of him singing the ABCs and it would be a huge success.”

In one of Banton’s most memorable songs, Destiny, he speaks of wanting to chart his own future, singing “my destination is homeward bound … I know I must get through no matter what a gwaan”. As the prodigal son returns, finally his destiny is back in his own hands. </s> Wearing a black “Hate Hero” T-shirt, a large pair of headphones clamped over his ears, the young singer croons into a microphone at a simple recording studio inside a prison in Burkina Faso.

Known as Johnyto, the 25-year-old is serving two years for being an accomplice to robbery at an overcrowded prison known for its abysmal conditions in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina’s second city.

Here, he is one of 700 inmates, some of whom are looking on curiously as he works the synthesizer, the mixer and the amplifiers.

“School didn’t work out because I wanted to make music, but well, that didn’t take off… Many things happened before I wound up here,” admits the young singer, whose real name is Jonathan Sougue.

“But one day, I hope to become a real star and forget this life.”

And in March, Johnyto finally got the break he was looking for when he entered an audition run by Burkinabe reggae star Freeman Tapily who was looking for an inmate who could record an album behind bars.

In what could have been dubbed “Prison’s Got Talent” or perhaps “X-Factor Behind Bars”, four people in his jail vied for first place, and Johnyto, with his mix of rap and ballads, won.

Several months later, Tapily’s team came into the prison and set up a basic recording studio where Johnyto spent three days with them recording five songs, shooting a music video and taking a series of publicity shots.

The project is being jointly financed by the Burkinabe Office of Author’s Rights and by African Culture, an organisation owned by Tapily which invites well-known Burkinabe singers and musicians to perform at concerts inside prisons for free as a way of helping with the inmates’ rehabilitation.

“These projects are close to my heart,” Tapily told AFP.

He started the initiative in 2010 with a concert performed in front of 1,400 inmates at the MACO central prison in the capital, Ouagadougou.

“Now it’s 2018 and there are roughly 2,000 prisoners. It’s going up!” he said.

But what he really wants to see is the numbers falling — in a sign that the inmates are completing their sentences, getting out and getting on with normal lives.

“For the number to fall, we have to get on with rehabilitation. With rehabilitation, we will fight crime and repeat offences, that’s our battle,” he said.

“And in terms of rehabilitation, music can do a lot.”

Tapily has a lot of confidence that Johnyto can make it as a professional musician.

“Me, I make my living from music… and I think Johnyto’s talent is far greater than mine,” he told AFP.

“I think he can go beyond rehabilitation — he’ll definitely do that — but I think he could even help other people do the same,” he said, suggesting the young musician could even hire some of them to work with him.

The album, which is due to be released in December, has songs on it with lyrics in both French and Dioula, a local language also spoken in Ivory Coast and Mali.

And Johnyto has dedicated the main track — “I’m Sorry” — to his mum.

“I didn’t know how much you loved me / I’m sorry, yes mama, I’m sorry / I’m sorry to have caused you so much misery,” he sings.

Once the album is finished, Tapily’s team will burn 100 copies that Johnyto can distribute and sell himself, like most Burkinabe musicians do.

Although the prison administration itself doesn’t get involved in funding such external activities, it is happy to encourage them and to ensure the events go off as smoothly as possible.

For Pascal Yabre, regional head of prison security, rehabilitation of the inmates is a top priority.

“The aim is to enable those prisoners who have been here once to leave and never come back,” he said.

Across this West African nation, prisons are now offering inmates training in a wide range of skills, from gardening to livestock farming, to tailoring, carpentry and soapmaking.

Activities vary from one place to another, but for now, only a small percentage of prisoners are involved.

“The problem is that we often lack resources, which means we don’t manage to put them on at all the prisons,” Yabre admits, citing financial difficulties at the prisons’ authority.

For Tapily, the funding shortfall is easily explained.

“We are in a poor country where everything is a priority so the state can’t allow itself to spend too much on the prisons,” he says.

“If I was president and had to choose between building a new hospital and a new jail, I would choose a hospital!” </s> Barack Obama has commuted the sentence of Oscar López Rivera, a victory for the Puerto Rican independence activist, who is considered to be one of the world’s longest-serving political prisoners.

In his final days in office, Obama has issued a record number of pardons and commutations, including granting the release of Chelsea Manning on Tuesday, the US army soldier who became one of the most famous whistleblowers in modern times.

López Rivera, whose commutation was announced on Tuesday along with those of 208 others, has been incarcerated for 35 years for his role in fighting for Puerto Rico’s independence.

The 74-year-old, who has spent more than half of his life behind bars, was convicted of “seditious conspiracy” for plotting against the US through his activism. In a recent interview with the Guardian, he said he still believes in what he described as the “noble cause” of full sovereignty for his Caribbean birthplace, which is classified as a US “territory”.

López Rivera was issued two sentences in the 1980s, one of 15 years and one of 55 years, but under Obama’s order, he will be released on 17 May.

In August of 1999, Bill Clinton used his final days in office to grant a pardon to 11 Puerto Rican independence fighters. López Rivera was offered a lesser deal that would have resulted in early release after a decade, but the activist turned it down because he said he did not believe the US government would stick to its side of the bargain, and he was upset offers were not made to fellow fighters.

“When I was in Vietnam I never left anyone behind. That’s not my practice, I couldn’t do it,” he told the Guardian last year.

US congressman Luis Gutiérrez celebrated Obama’s decision on Tuesday, saying in a statement, “I am overjoyed and overwhelmed with emotion. Oscar is a friend, a mentor, and family to me ... The long fight against colonialism in the Caribbean has had many chapters and we have all put violence behind us. Releasing Oscar Lopez Rivera back to his homeland and his people is a step towards peace and reconciliation and is being celebrated by Puerto Ricans of all political stripes, classes, colors and geographies.”

Obama has commuted the sentences of 1,385 individuals, more than any other US president. On a call with reporters, a White House official said more commutations are expected “most likely on Thursday”. </s> Earlier today, President Obama commuted the sentences of to 273 individuals, including Chelsea Manning and Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar López Rivera, who has been incarcerated for 35 years.

One of the longest serving political prisoners in history (most of which was spent in solitary confinement), López Rivera was struck with a 55-year sentence after being convicted in 1981 of "seditious conspiracy". He was one of the leaders of the Spanish for Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN), a Puerto Rican nationalist group that claimed credit for a series of bombings in the 1970s and 1980s to call attention to the U.S.'s colonial history, as well as the continued non-representation of the island in U.S. politics and policy that affects it.

However, López Rivera was never found to have connections to any bombings or attacks, nor was he ever proven to have injured anyone. Instead, he's widely cited as a political prisoner with an incredibly disproportionate sentence, with several major human rights coalitions, a vast majority of Puerto Ricans and leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Coretta Scott King and Senator Bernie Sanders advocating for his release.

López Rivera is now set to be released on May 17.

Ed Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that López Rivera was pardoned. </s> Rocco Morabito: Fugitive Italian 'cocaine king' arrested in Uruguay after 23 years on the run

One of Italy's most wanted mob bosses has been arrested in Uruguay after 23 years on the run from convictions for mafia association, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes, the interior ministries of both countries said.

Rocco Morabito was considered the most wanted fugitive member of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, Italy's most powerful organised crime group and one of Europe's biggest importers of South American cocaine.

The 50-year-old was arrested in Montevideo after Uruguayan police and Italian authorities worked together to determine his real identity, the Italian ministry said in a statement.

Dubbed the "cocaine king of Milan," Morabito had been wanted since 1994 after he was caught paying 13 billion lire ($10 million) to import almost a tonne of the drug, Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

Morabito entered Uruguay in 2001, and took up residence with his wife in the coastal resort city of Punta del Este, the Uruguayan interior ministry said in a statement. He was living there under the false identity of Francisco Antonio Capeletto Souza, of Rio de Janeiro.

He was jailed in Uruguay for using false documents while Italy's request for extradition is processed, the statement said, adding that $US50,000 ($62,000) in cash was found at his home along with 13 mobile phones.

An international arrest warrant was issued in 1995 with the aim of tracking down Morabito and extraditing him to Italy, where he has been sentenced to 30 years in jail.

The arrest ticks one member off the Italian Interior Ministry's five-strong list of the country's most-wanted organised criminals, on which Morabito had rubbed shoulders with feared Sicilian boss Matteo Messina Denaro.
Jamaican reggae artist Buju Banton (Mark Anthony Myrie) is released from a U.S. prison and deported back to Jamaica, after serving 7 years of a 10-year drug charge conviction.