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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

1890: The Electric Chair, ‘Far Worse Than Hanging’

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It was supposed to be a humane alternative to the noose. On March 22, 1890, The Times reported on a New York Court of Appeals ruling that a new invention, the electric chair, did not constitute cruel punishment. 

It would be used to execute a convicted wife killer, William Kemmler.

When the execution took place in August, the condemned man conducted himself with dignity, thus supplying a grace note to the grim proceedings.

The first use of the electric chair proved a bungled nightmare that left witnesses nauseated and weak-kneed, aghast at what they had seen, heard and smelled; even the district attorney wept.

The headline read “Far Worse Than Hanging,” and the reporter left no doubt about where he stood, declaring in the very first paragraph that the execution was “revolting” and a “disgrace to civilization.” 

Source: The New York Times, November 9, 2015

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