Troy Davis

Troy Davis, convicted of the August 19, 1989 of the murder of a police officer, was executed last night in the USA. He was working as a security guard at a Burger King when he intervened to defend a man being assaulted in a nearby parking lot. During the trial, witnesses testified they had seen Davis shoot the officer, and he was sentenced to death in August 1991. Since then, seven of the nine eyewitnesses have recanted of their testominy.

Authorities had found no murder weapon, no DNA evidence, and no surveillance tapes. But according to the residing judge there “was no substantial doubt cast on the verdict.” In other words, a potentially innocent man died yesterday.

Larry Cox, executive director of rights group, Amnesty International said in a statement the justice system “was shaken to its core” as Georgia executed a man “who may well be innocent.” “Killing a man under this enormous cloud of doubt is horrific, and amounts to a catastrophic failure of the justice system,” he said.

Among those who have also come out against the execution are Nobel peace laureate, Desmond Tutu, Pope Benedict XVI and former US president and ex-Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter.

[Source: News24]