24/04/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 21 April, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service spoke out against the execution of Ledell Lee in the USA the previous day. This "has broken a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in the State of Arkansas, in place since 2005", the spokesperson said in a press release, reiterating that the death penalty can never be justified. The spokesperson added that there are internationally-recognised minimum standards that States which insist on maintaining the death penalty must respect. This includes that where capital punishment occurs, "it shall be carried out so as to inflict the minimum possible suffering". Lee was executed because the lethal substance with which he was due to be injected expired at the end of April. "We call on the authorities in Arkansas to reinstate the moratorium on executions as a first step towards full abolition", the EEAS spokesperson stated. (CG)