Guantanamo lawyer says Gyllenhaal film rings true

LONDON (Reuters) - Hollywood's latest take on kidnapping and torture in the war on terror is surprisingly bold and realistic but won't change people's views overnight, a prominent lawyer for Guantanamo Bay prisoners says.

Rendition," starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon, tells the story of an Egyptian man abducted by the United States as he steps off a flight in Washington

He is sent to a North African state investigating a suicide bombing, and systematically tortured under the eyes of a CIA agent, played by Gyllenhaal.

I thought it was surprisingly courageous for Hollywood and it will be seen by millions. Now, will we persuade the world in a moment? No, of course," lawyer Clive Stafford Smith said at a preview showing in London ahead of this week's release

However, he said the media had a vital part to play in shaping public opinion on the issue, and obtaining justice for more than 300 prisoners still held as terrorist suspects at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Not one single person has been ordered free by the court of law. The court of public opinion, on the other hand, has been quite successful," said the British lawyer, whose charity Reprieve represents more than 40 Guantanamo inmates

We've freed more than half of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay ... We (lawyers) legally expose the truth. You (journalists) follow up on it. That's really important."