Italy is against capital punishment "in any circumstances", deputy foreign minister Emanuela Del Re tweeted on Wednesday after the administration of outgoing US president Donald Trump executed convicted murderer Lisa Montgomery by lethal injection.
"ITALY OPPOSES THE DEATH PENALTY. Always, everywhere, and in any circumstances," Del Re tweeted.
Montgomery, 52, was executed early on Wednesday at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, after judge gave a brief stay to asses her mental competence. But an appeals court panel vacated that stay on Tuesday, writing Montgomery’s claim could have been brought earlier.
Montgomery was the first woman to be put to death in the US since 1953 and her killing marked the end of a 17-year hiatus on executions for federal crimes in the US. She was the 13th person executed in the country over the past year
Montgomery was born brain damaged, was diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome, endured severe psychological, physical and sexual abuse throughout her girlhood, and had become psychotic, according to her legal counsel.
She was sentenced to death for a horrific crime: strangling eight-months-pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett at her home in the state of Missouri in 2004 before cutting the baby girl out of Stinnett's womb. The child survived.
