After 16 years of suspension, the United States government announced Thursday that it will resume the execution of sentenced to death penalty by federal courts. Five prisoners are to be executed from December.
Last year there were 25 executions in the United States. But all were carried out by state authorities. The last execution by the federal government took place in 2003.
According to Attorney General William Barr, the resumption of executions aims to "do justice to the victims of the most horrible crimes." "The Department of Justice supports the rule of law and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry out the sentence imposed by our justice system," he added.
The prosecutor transmitted his decision to the FBI and asked interim director Hugh Hurwitz to schedule the executions of five prisoners who were sentenced to death for murder, torture and rape crimes against children and the elderly. Executions have not been practiced at the federal level since 2003.
Barr pointed out that "under Governments of both parties, the Justice Department sought the death penalty for the worst offenders, including these five killers, each of whom was convicted by a jury after a complete and fair trial."
