Sep 20, 2011
Update: Troy Davis’ Bid for Clemency Denied
The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole has rejected Troy Davis’ appeal for clemency. Because the Georgia governor has no power to stay executions this was Troy’s final hope. He is due to be executed by lethal injection tomorrow Wednesday 21st September 2011. This will be the fourth time he has faced the death penalty.
More than 630,000 letters were delivered by Amnesty International to the Board last week pleading for clemency for Troy, including letters from President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Ca. 3,500 people marched in support of Davis in Atlanta on Friday night.
The President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Benjamin Todd Jealous stated at press conference today:
In moments of immense sadness, moments that shake the foundation of our faith in the justice system and in mankind, there are often no words that can adequately express one’s grief and outrage.
Amnesty has called the refusal of clemency “an outrageous affront to justice”. The Amnesty petition may be signed at the website www.amnestyusa.org.
UPDATE: Troy Davis was executed last night at 11.08pm local time. His death was delayed by four hours as the US Supreme Court considered a desperate request to halt the execution. The four hour stay of execution caused some supporters to believe that there was hope of a positive outcome. However that was not to be, and Davis was executed at Georgia Diagnostic Prison in Jackson by lethal injection. His last words were directed to the MacPhail family protesting his innocence. The Guardian’s website has a video of Troy Davis’ lawyer and a witness giving their reactions to the execution. His laywers have called the execution a “legal lynching”.
