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First Third Of 2024 In Saudi Arabia: Executions Rise By 189% And Portend Another Bloody Year. At Least 71 Currently Facing Execution.

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Since the beginning of 2024 until the end of April, the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 55 individuals. This figure constitutes a 189% increase compared to the executions in the first third of 2023, which witnessed 19 executions. The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views these numbers as a clear indication of the Saudi government's continued approach towards executing and issuing death sentences, and that the promises made in recent years have become elusive.

Texas Running Low on Lethal Injection Drugs Before Bower's Execution

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GRAYSON COUNTY -- A man convicted of killing four people in Sherman in 1983 is scheduled to be executed next month, but a nationwide drug shortage could force the state to change its plans. The State of Texas executed ten people last year using the drug Pentobarbital, but the state's supply is running low and the timing could impact the execution of Lester Bower.

For thirty years Bower fought his four murder convictions in the 1983 shooting deaths of Bob Tate, Ronald Mayes, Philip Good and Jerry Brown. Prosecutors say he arranged to buy an ultra-light airplane in Sherman, but instead shot the men and stole the parts.

He's become one of the longest standing inmates on death row. This summer, his last appeal was denied and he is set to die by lethal injection Feb. 10th.

Texas uses three doses of Pentobarbital during executions, but announced last month it only has enough for the first five executions of the year. Under the state's current list online, Bower is number six.

"The maker of this drug is in Europe, and the European Union opposes the death penalty," Richard Dieter said, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Facing tough sanctions, Europe stopped selling the drug, and Texas turned to compounding pharmacies, paying about $4,500 for each execution's drugs. Dieter says many of those pharmacies have stopped selling due to public pressure, or ethical responsibility.

Jason Clark, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said they expect to have the drugs to execute Bower because despite records online, the first execution of the year is being re-scheduled, though it leaves the other eight men on the list in limbo.

Click here to read the full article

Source: kten.com; January 6, 2014

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Texas, USA
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