"Protest at 'political hanging'Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, most death sentences in Victoria were routinely commuted to life imprisonment.In the summer of 1966-67, lawyers, students and church leaders organised an extraordinary campaign for clemency, but Liberal premier Henry Bolte appeared determined to prove his credentials on crime by insisting on Ryan's execution.Pleas for mercy from key community leaders were concealed from Bolte's cabinet… [read post]