Death penalty reintroduced in USA after 16 years

Friday, 26 July 2019 08:34

ALEX WONG / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP

The US government is set to reintroduce the death penalty.

According to the justice department, five inmates who are currently on death-row will be killed between December 2019 and January 2020.

It comes after a 16-year-hiatus which saw the death penalty suspended.

The five inmates have been convicted of murders or rapes of children or senior citizens.

In a statement, Attorney General William Barr said “we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system."

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