‘Disabled’ man executed in US despite protests

Authorities in the southern US state of Texas executed an African American man on Tuesday despite protests from human rights groups that said he was mentally disabled.

Marvin Wilson, 54, who was condemned to death for a killing a police informant in 1992, was declared dead by lethal injection at 6:27 pm, according to a release from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The US Supreme Court rejected a final appeal from defence lawyers in the hours before the execution. Amnesty International called the decision “highly disturbing” and several other rights groups criticised the sentence.

AFP