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USA - Alabama. Kenneth Smith's execution does not appear to have been peaceful

January 26, 2024:

January 26, 2024 - “The World is Watching”: Witnesses Report Kenneth Smith Appeared Conscious, “Shook and Writhed” During First-Ever Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution
On January 25, 2024, Alabama executed Kenneth Smith using nitrogen hypoxia, a first in American history. Though state attorneys had assured courts that the method would cause “unconsciousness in seconds,” witnesses reported that Mr. Smith appeared awake for several minutes after the nitrogen gas began. They observed that he “shook and writhed” for at least two minutes before breathing heavily for another few minutes. “This was the fifth execution that I’ve witnessed in Alabama, and I have never seen such a violent reaction to an execution,” said media witness Lee Hedgepeth. Mr. Smith was pronounced dead 32 minutes after the gas began to flow.
Mr. Smith would not have been sentenced to death today. His jury voted 11-1 in favor of a life sentence, but the judge overrode the recommendation and imposed a death sentence in a practice now outlawed nationwide. Mr. Smith also survived a botched lethal injection attempt in November 2022 in which Alabama officials strapped him to the gurney for four hours and inserted needles into his muscles. He was one of the few people in history to face execution twice, and experienced severe PTSD symptoms leading up to his second execution date.
The Supreme Court denied a stay of execution and certiorari review to Mr. Smith over the dissents of Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson. “Having failed to kill Smith on its first attempt, Alabama has selected him as its ‘guinea pig’ to test a method of execution never attempted before,” wrote Justice Sotomayor. Justice Kagan, joined by Justice Jackson, emphasized the risk of Mr. Smith choking on his own vomit as he was deprived of oxygen. Prison officials did not allow Mr. Smith to eat in the ten hours before the execution or drink in the four hours before. Medical experts had also raised the risk of nitrogen hypoxia putting a prisoner into a vegetative state or harming staff and advisors in the execution chamber if the gas leaked. “With deep sadness, but commitment to the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment, I respectfully dissent,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “The world is watching.”
“Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards,” Mr. Smith said in his last words. “I’m leaving with love, peace, and light.” He signed “I love you” to his family after the gas mask was put on.

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/the-world-is-watching-witnesses-report-kenneth-smith-appeared-conscious-shook-and-writhed-during-first-ever-nitrogen-hypoxia-execution

(Source: DPIC, 26/01/2024)

IRAN - A woman, Zahra Nazarian, executed in Sabzevar on January 31
USA - Texas. Jury recommends death penalty for Victor Godinez
CHINA: FORMER PEKING UNIVERSITY STUDENT WHO KILLED MOTHER EXECUTED
NIGERIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR ARMED ROBBERY
IRAN - Hossein Habibi executed in Urmia on January 31
USA - Florida. Jury recommends death penalty for Bessman Okafor, 39, Black.
SRI LANKA: SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BOAT HIJACK CASE
INDIA: DEATH PENALTY FOR 15 MEMBERS OF BANNED PFI FOR KERALA BJP LEADER'S MURDER
IRAN - Mehdi Azaryoun executed in Urmia on Jannuary 30
INDIA: HYDERABAD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
IRAN - 2 men executed in Karaj on January 30
IRAN - 4 men executed in Karaj on January 29
IRAN - Execution for Four Kurdish Political Prisoners in Karaj on January 29
IRAN - Ali Rajabian executed in Karaj on January 29
MYANMAR: ARMY DENIES THAT GENERALS WERE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SURRENDERING KEY CITY TO INSURGENTS
KUWAIT: CITIZEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
INDIA: TWO GET DEATH PENALTY FOR 2005 SHRAMJIVI EXPRESS TRAIN BLAST
USA - Alabama. Global condemnation for Smith's experimental execution
IRAN - Mohammad Reza Ghorbani executed in Karaj on January 28
IRAN - Iran seeking death penalty for Johan Floderus
IRAN - Ruhollah Shakeri executed in Birjand on January 28
IRAN - Aref and Asif Ishaqzahi executed in Birjand on January 28
USA - Alabama. Democrats link Holocaust to Kenneth Smith execution by nitrogen gas
USA - Louisiana. Darrell Robinson's guilty verdict overturned
USA - Alabama. Kenneth Smith’s execution by nitrogen hypoxia is ‘historic’ achievement
IRAN - 3 Kurdish prisoners of conscience at imminent risk of execution
GHANA: SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2021 COUP PLOT
JAPAN: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING 36 IN ANIME STUDIO ARSON 
USA - Alabama. Kenneth Smith executed on January 25
IRAN - Death sentence confirmed for Kurdish political prisoner Yousef Ahmadi

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IRAN - Wife of Djalali pleads for EU action
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