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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.

Virginia Adds New Lethal Injection Drug

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Virginia has added a new drug to be used in executions to replace one that is in short supply across the U.S.

The Virginia Department of Corrections said Friday that rocuronium bromide can now be used in the lethal injection cocktail. The drug is an alternative to the scarce pancuronium bromide, which is used to paralyze muscles.

Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center says Virginia appears to be the first state to substitute a drug for pancuronium bromide.

He says Texas and Georgia have switched from the three-drug cocktail to just one, bigger dose of a sedative.

In May, an anti-death penalty group called Reprieve complained that Virginia had a stockpile of pancuronium bromide while hospitals are in short supply.

Source: AP, July 27, 2012
Location: Virginia
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