Beijing to use lethal injection for condemned prisoners

By the end of the year, all criminals sentenced to death in Beijing will receive lethal injections instead of being executed by gun.

By the end of the year, all criminals sentenced to  death in Beijing will receive lethal injections  instead of being executed by gun.

A site has been built next to the city's Number 1 detention house, which houses the majority of the city's condemned. The Beijing Municipal High People's Court has already made preparations, which include allocation of staff and boosting technical capacity.

It will soon start training judicial police, who will deliver the prisoners and administer the injections. Medical staff will be trained to supervise the use of drugs, and monitor and confirm the deaths.

The new site is equipped with rooms for execution, observation and the storage of bodies. The execution bed, injection pump and disinfection facilities are all specially produced.

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Backgrounder: Lethal injection -- from bullets to needles

Lethal injection was made legal in China in 1997, becoming an alternative form of execution. Over the years, an increasing number of Chinese cities have adopted it as the main execution method.  Full story>>

Expert on Lethal injection for execution

• Topic 1: Justice in a transition period
• Topic 2: Public attention about punishment
• Topic 3: reducing capital punishment