Last night the first woman executed in the United States in five years was put to death in Virginia.
The execution of Ms. Lewis also drew the attention of people around the world.
Her fate also drew appeals from the European Union, an indignant rebuke from Iran and the disgust of thousands of people.
In a letter this month to McDonnell, the European Union asked the governor to commute her sentence to life, citing Lewis’ mental capacity. Her lawyers have said testing shows Lewis is borderline mentally retarded.
The European Union’s ambassador to the U.S. wrote that the EU “considers that the execution of people with mental disorders of all types is contrary to minimum standards of human rights.”
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said in an online briefing Thursday it “deplored” the rejection of Lewis’ plea for clemency and the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear her appeal.
Earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Western media of having a double standard in reporting on the Lewis execution.
He compared coverage of the Lewis case to the “heavy propaganda” campaign against the case of an Iranian woman who had been sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery.
However it did not appear to get the attention of Virginia’s \"Pro-Life\" Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.
Julian and Charles Lewis were unavailable for comment.
I am not advocating that she be set free, I am advocating that we dont put a mentally ill woman to death to prove that killing is wrong.