British groups seek to stop execution drug

British groups seek to stop execution drug
LONDON (UPI) -- A British law firm said it was prepared to file suit against the government to stop a U.K. firm from exporting a drug used for executions.
The law firm Leigh Day and the human rights group Reprieve said the action is being taken on behalf of a U.S. prisoner facing execution after Christmas with drugs imported from Britain, politics.co.uk reported Tuesday.
Edmund Zagorski is on death row in Tennessee for the murder of two men in a 1983 drug deal.
Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith said the group and Leigh Day asked the government to take emergency action to avoid British complicity in Zagorski's execution.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has told human rights groups he prefers not to interfere with trade between the United States and Britain.
"We will be asking the court to force him to act," said Richard Stein, a partner at Leigh Day.
The drug in question, sodium thiopental, is an anesthetic.
The British company exporting it was not identified.

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This news arrived on: 11/02/2010