‘You can now lose your winners trophy if found convicted of crimes’ Says BAFTA

In a great move by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the organisation has decided to change a few things in its rule book. The British Academy has now made provisions to strip winners off their trophies in cases of convictions of crime that result in prison term or “proven dishonesty”. This rule will be applicable to the winner starting from the year 2025.

The same was announced to the media by BAFTA chair Sara Putt after they put together what they call a new “forfeiture process”. This change was brought into effect after the case of former BBC News host Huw Edwards, who pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children this year, was brought to light.

Shocked by the crimes he committed and a need to revise their rules accordingly, Sara Putt wrote in a letter ro BAFTA, “Earlier this year, we were shocked by the news of the former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards’ arrest and subsequent conviction for child pornography offenses. He won seven individual BAFTA Cymru awards for television presenting between 2002 and 2017. Following the news, deeply complex questions were raised regarding historic awards won by individuals and specifically, whether awards won in competition should ever be removed retrospectively.”

Her letter highlighted that “we are not the only awards body to navigate these complex issues.”

The review concluded, “there are exceptional grounds in which an award won in the competition should be reviewed and possibly rescinded, and that we need to provide more clarity to entrants on this in our annual awards rulebooks,” Putt explained. “Starting in 2025, a forfeiture process will be introduced to our awards rulebooks with specific guidance on what would lead us to consider revoking a competitive award. This will include entries rendered ineligible through proven dishonesty, and the very rare instance of a winner being convicted of a serious criminal offence resulting in a prison sentence.” (Agencies)

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