China's Death Vans
In the truth is stranger than fiction department: Several Chinese provinces are using "death vans" to carry out court-ordered executions - in some cases, 15 minutes after a death sentence has been imposed. [Via Crim Prof Blog]
THE death van is an inconspicuous blue-and-white police vehicle that parks near the courtroom when its services are required by the Chinese judicial system.
Inside it is fitted with a couch that can be raised or lowered like an operating table, set in the middle of the floor. There is space on either side for the bailiff, the court medical expert and one or two policemen to hold down the condemned man.
A lethal injection is then administered in a two-stage process by the medical expert, who in some cases may be a qualified doctor, and the bailiff. The process is swift and efficient, according to a policeman who has witnessed the vans in use in Liaoning province, northeast China.
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