US convict's execution blocked by drug company
Washington, July 12 : A US court indefinitely suspended the execution of a murder convict after a pharmaceutical company issued an appeal against its product being used as part of the lethal injection.
Scott Dozier, 47, convicted of two murders in 2001 and 2007, gave up his appeals and asked to be executed, reports Efe news.
The state of Nevada scheduled Dozier's execution for Wednesday, when a lethal injection would be administered with a three-drug combination, one of which is a sedative produced by Alvogen, Midazolam.
The pharmaceutical company filed an appeal on Tuesday against the use of its products in the execution process, alleging that the drugs were illegitimately obtained after Alvogen refused to provide it for lethal injection.
According to Alvogen, the Nevada Department of Corrections ordered Midazolam through a pharmacy in Las Vegas to avoid the company's opposition.
Over the last decade, various American pharmaceutical companies have opposed the use of their products in lethal injections, causing a decrease in executions due to a lack of drug components.
This marks the second time that a pharmaceutical company has turned to the courts to block an execution. The first attempt in Arkansas, however, did not succeed.
Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez, who temporarily accepted Alvogen's appeal, scheduled a new hearing for September.
Since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Nevada has executed 12 offenders.
The last execution took place in 2006.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
