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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.

Mississippi Senate passes Execution Secrecy Bill

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In the future a Mississippi death row inmate's execution and all those involved in the process could be kept from the public.

Senate Bill 2237, introduced by Republican Senator Joey Fillingane, passed Tuesday.

Entitled the "Execution Secrecy Bill", the measure would protect the identities of the execution team, suppliers of the lethal injection drugs and others involved in the execution process.

State Attorney General Jim Hood helped draft the legislation.

He said in reaction to anti-death penalty advocates who have threatened and harassed the companies providing the lethal injections and even the executioner.

"As long as it's the law in Mississippi I've got a duty to carry it out and if there's a method by which I can carry it out without people getting abused; the executioner, the pharmacy that provides the drugs, I think we owe them that protection. It's a state law," said Hood.

Opponents of the Execution Secrecy legislation say the public would not be made aware of the execution process which could possibly be inhumane and not divulge where the drugs were from, how they are administered or their reactions.

We were unable to reach Senator Fillingane and Prisoner Rights Advocates for comment on the execution secrecy bill.

Similar bills have been passed in recent years in Arkansas and Georgia.

Source: WDAM news, Feb. 18, 2016

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Location: Mississippi, USA
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