A prisoner named Eugene Smith, who was sentenced to death for murder, was executed by poisoning with nitrogen gas in the US state of Alabama. While Smith was recorded as the first death row inmate whose sentence was executed in this way, the practice also brought about human rights debates.
A FIRST IN WORLD HISTORY
This was a first in the USA, one of the countries where the death penalty is implemented. A prisoner named Eugene Smith, who was sentenced to death for murder, was executed by poisoning with nitrogen gas in the state of Alabama. Alabama prison spokesperson Kelly Betts announced that Smith, who was made to breathe nitrogen gas by wearing a special mask, died at 20.25 local time. The new execution practice known as “nitrogen hypoxia” was recorded as a first in the world as well as in the USA.
VASCULAR CONNECTION WAS NOT FOUND
The death sentence given to 58-year-old Smith, who was convicted of murdering Elizabeth Sennett, the wife of a clergyman, as a hitman in 1989, was tried to be executed by lethal injection in 2022. The execution was postponed because Smith’s intravenous line could not be found.
TORTURE, INHUMAN PRACTICE
The fact that nitrogen gas would be used in the execution of the death penalty attracted the reaction of different segments of the public. Human rights defenders opposed this method, which had not been tried before. Smith’s lawyer’s request for a stay of execution was also rejected by the Federal Court. The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the other hand, stated that an execution method that has not been used before could amount to torture or inhumane practice, and called for a halt to executions with nitrogen gas.
