Europe should boycott Alabama over nitrogen execution - peace group

Kenneth Eugene Smith, convicted for a murder-for-hire committed in 1988, and who is scheduled to be executed in the U.S. state of Alabama by asphyxiation using pure nitrogen, poses for an undated booking photo at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama, U.S. Alabama Department of Corrections/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - A peace group with close ties to the Vatican said on Tuesday it will appeal to European businesses and tourists to boycott the U.S. state of Alabama if it went ahead with the execution of an inmate by nitrogen gas this week.

The warning by the Sant' Egidio Community involves Kenneth Smith, who was convicted of a 1988 murder and who survived a botched execution attempt by lethal injection in 2022.