FEATURED POST

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

Published
Image
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.

Lethal Injection Drug Seized At Phoenix Airport From British Airways Flight

Published
Arizona paid $27,000 for a shipment of sodium thiopental, but the FDA seized the drug from a British Airways flight.

A shipment of an illegally imported lethal injection drug bought by the state of Arizona has been stopped at Phoenix airport, according to documents.

Arizona paid nearly $27,000 for the batch of anaesthetic sodium thiopental, which has been used to carry out executions but is no longer manufactured by companies approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

When the drugs arrived on a British Airways flight at Phoenix International Airport, they were seized by federal officials and have not been released, Associated Press news agency reported.

Andrew Wilder, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said: "The department is contesting FDA's legal authority to continue to withhold the state's execution chemicals."

The documents obtained by AP are part of a lawsuit against the department over the transparency of its executions.

Arizona, along with other states with the death penalty, have struggled to obtain legal execution drugs for years after European companies refused to sell those needed to carry out death sentences.

States have had to change the combinations of drugs used in lethal injections or put executions on hold.

Earlier this year, Nebraska was told by the FDA that it could not legally import sodium thiopental after the governor said the state had obtained the drug from India.

Ohio, which earlier this month halted executions until at least 2017 because of a lack of drugs, sent a letter to the FDA stating it believed it could obtain the drug overseas without violating any laws.

On Thursday, Texas said it had obtained a licence from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to import sodium thiopental.

Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, was unable to say whether the state had purchased or received any drugs from overseas.

Last year, Governor Jan Brewer ordered an investigation into the Arizona's execution process after Joseph Rudolph Wood, 55, took nearly 2 hours to die in a Florence prison.

Wood had been injected with 15 times the intended dosage of a sedative and painkiller.

Source: Sky News, October 23, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

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

Published
Image
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.
Read more

Could Moscow attack suspects face execution in Belarus?

Published
Image
After the deadly terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, some Russian politicians are debating trying the suspects to Belarus, which still has death penalty. But it's not that simple. The terror attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall has ignited debate about the reintroduction of the death sentence in Russia. Given that 140 people died and more than 500 were wounded at the concert hall on March 22, 2024, emotions are running high.
Read more

Bill Moves Forward to Prevent Use of Nitrogen Gas Asphyxiation in Louisiana Executions

Published
Image
There’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430. When Louisiana legislators approved the use of nitrogen gas asphyxiation as an execution method during a second special legislative session in February, the move attracted national attention; not the least because it has only been used in the U.S. once. That’s when Alabama executed convicted killer Kenneth Eugene Smith on January 25th of this year. Now there’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430.
Read more

Iran | 9 prisoners executed in a single day

Published
Image
9 prisoners of drug charges executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chabahar and GhezelHesar According to the Iranian Human Rights Society website, on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 9 prisoners including, Baloch and Kurdish drug suspects were executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chah bahar, and GhezelHesar.  
Read more

Punjab | Woman sentenced to death for kidnapping, burying toddler alive

Published
Image
Neelam sentenced to death for burying toddler alive after kidnapping her, in a rare and heinous crime. The court found her guilty of murder and destruction of evidence, causing outrage in society. LUDHIANA: Over two years after the brutal murder of a toddler, the woman who killed her was sentenced to death by a local court. The convict had buried her neighbour’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter alive. 
Read more

Alabama lawmakers reject bill which would allow some death row inmates to be resentenced

Published
Image
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - An Alabama House committee rejected a bill that would have impacted sentences for dozens of death row inmates. The proposal would have required courts to resentence people sentenced to death by a judge who overrode a jury’s recommendation of life in prison. That practice was outlawed in 2017. Representative Chris England passionately argued it should be retroactively applied for more than 30 death row inmates who were sentenced to death over a jury’s recommendation.
Read more