Human Rights Group to Sue in UK in Effort to Prevent Export of Drug for Use in US Inmate's Execution
In an effort to prevent, or at least postpone, the execution of a U.S. prison inmate on death row, a London-based human rights group says it has filed or will file suit in the United Kingdom to try to force a ban on the export from Britain of a scarce drug commonly used in a lethal injection cocktail.
Reprieve, with the help of London-based law firm Leigh Day & Co., is filing the suit, presumably against the British government, to try to force it to regulate sodium thiopental, according to the Associated Press and the Independent.
The litigation seeks to prevent the drug from being sent to Tennessee, where it is needed to execute Edmund Zagorski, a convicted double murderer in his mid-50s.
Business Secretary Vince Cable says in a letter to the law firm that it “would not be justified” for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to issue an emergency order blocking the drug’s export by requiring a license, but did not immediately respond to a letter from the AP seeking further comment.
The British newspaper says the European Union bans the export of equipment or drugs whose sole function is to facilitate executions. However, sodium thiopental is an anesthetic with a legitimate medical purpose.
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, there is currently a shortage of sodium thiopental that has led to the delays of several U.S. executions:
Who Gets the Lethal Injection? Drug Shortage Creates ‘Russian Roulette’ Scenario
Divided Supreme Court Vacates Execution Stay; Challenge Focused on Drug Shortage
