The executioner strikes in AlabamaWhere Kenneth Smith was executed with nitrogen. It is the first time that this controversial tactic has been used in the United States for a death sentence since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. Smith was declared dead at 8.25pm local time, after the execution was postponed for several hours to await the outcome of the latest appeal to the American Supreme Court.
The condemnation of the EU
The European Union expresses “deep regret” for “the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith which took place yesterday in the State of Alabama, forcing the prisoner to breathe pure nitrogen”. “According to leading experts, this method is a particularly cruel and unusual punishment,” writes the EU External Action Service. “The EU – we read in the note – firmly opposes the death penalty at all times”.