UK Pauses Sending Evidence To US Law Enforcement Over Death Penalty Concerns - Reports

UK Pauses Sending Evidence to US Law Enforcement Over Death Penalty Concerns - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th June, 2020) The United Kingdom temporarily suspended the delivery of criminal evidence to the United States because of the latter's continued use of the death penalty as a punishment for crimes, the Washington Post newspaper reports, citing officials in London.

According to the newspaper, UK officials refused to send evidence on June 4 related to a visa fraud case. This decision followed in the wake of a UK Supreme Court judgment in March, which ruled that it was unlawful for the country's authorities to cooperate in a US terrorism case while there was the threat that the suspects would be put to death.

In a letter, UK officials stated that they had "paused transmission of all evidence to all countries that maintain the death penalty on their statute books," as quoted by the newspaper.

London's suspension of legal cooperation did not only affect the United States, as other countries that continue to use the death penalty were also included on the list.

In a later email sent to the newspaper, the UK Home Office stated that the country is continuing to process evidence claims, suggesting that the ban on legal cooperation with US has since been lifted.

The death penalty was abolished in all UK nations, except for Northern Ireland, in 1969. Capital punishment was outlawed in Northern Ireland four years later.

Six inmates in the United States have been put to death since the start of 2020.�