Accomplice in judicial murder

Jeffrey Landrigan was convicted of murder in 1989 and was put to death on 26 October 2010. A judge agreed to postpone his execution after his defence team raised objections about the safety of the British-sourced drug being used in the lethal injection process. They said the drug had not been approved for use in the United States. The Supreme Court judges voted 5-4 in favour of allowing the execution to go ahead. The state's attorney general, Terry Goddard, used a law preventing the identification of executioners to ignore an order forcing him to reveal the exact source of the sodium thiopental used as part of the process to end Landrigan's life.

The Independent revealed that the three drugs used in the lethal injection process in Arizona had been shipped to the American state by the small business in London. The company is Dream Pharma Limited, run from the Acton property by the man listed in company accounts as its director, Mehdi Alavi. Dream Pharma charged the Arizona Department of Corrections £4,528.25 for the supplies of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Sodium thiopental is used to render the inmate unconscious. Pancuronium bromide is then administered to cause paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Potassium chloride is then given in a high dose to stop the heart, causing a massive heart attack.

Mr Alavi said he did not wish to comment about any of the allegations he faced. "It does not matter what I do, I am not even going to comment on anything,"

The potassium chloride supplied to Arizona by Dream Pharma originated from Hameln pharmaceuticals, based in Gloucester. "This is misuse of our product," said its managing director, Stephen Watkin. "It is primarily designed for saving and improving lives. We are one of five suppliers of this product in the UK and our absolute first concern is the safety of our medicines and our patients."

As far back as March 2007 the WSM was highlighting how the death penalty degenerates civilised society and pointed out that:-
"Evidence shows that lethal injection is anything but the humane medical procedure its advocates profess. Witnesses to the last six executions in San Quentin claim it is likely the inmates suffered excruciating deaths. It was further revealed that the second, paralyzing drug in the lethal injection procedure is actually administered to conceal any outward visible signs of pain, observers believing the inmate is calm and quiet, when they could be inwardly screaming in agony, unable to move a muscle or cry out. Indeed, animals are put to death in a more humane way. 30 US states banning the use of neuromuscular blocking agents like pancuronium bromide in animal euthanasia, lest the animal suffer undetected pain."

We, as socialists, would welcome the abolition of the death penalty. Yet for us, as a revolutionary party, it is a single issue amongst thousands of others, many equally deserving. We have no wish to appear heartless , but while only a few dozen have been executed in the US each year, some 40,000 children die of hunger and its related illnesses every single day. The working class is murdered and battered and robbed and dehumanised every day. Yes, we loathe the death penalty, but we also detest every other injustice perpetrated against our class. Our duty is to urge our fellow workers to end capitalism and, in so doing, eliminate all the social problems that presently plague us and change this society that sees its more desperate members killing one another and then ending up victims themselves of state-sanctioned murder.