It had sparked controversy: First execution by nitrogen gas in the US!

A first has occurred in the US, one of the countries where the death penalty is applied. An inmate named Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was sentenced to death for murder, was executed by nitrogen gas poisoning in the state of Alabama.

Alabama prison spokesperson Kelly Betts announced that Smith, who was made to inhale nitrogen gas through a special mask, died at 8:25 PM local time.

The new execution method, known as "nitrogen hypoxia," was recorded as a first not only in the US but also in the world. The death sentence of 58-year-old Smith, who was found guilty of murdering Elizabeth Sennett, the wife of a clergyman, as a contract killer in 1989, had been attempted to be carried out by lethal injection in 2022. The execution had been postponed because Smith's veins could not be located.

REQUEST TO HALT EXECUTION HAD BEEN REJECTED

The use of nitrogen gas in the execution of the death penalty had drawn reactions from different segments of the public. Human rights advocates had opposed this previously untested method. The request by Smith's lawyer to halt the execution had also been rejected by the Federal Court. The United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had called for the suspension of the execution by nitrogen gas, stating that a previously unused execution method could amount to torture or inhuman treatment.

News Source: İHA