Australia says U.S. plans to livestream execution ‘absolutely disgusting’

Australian Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, right, speaks to the media as his Indonesian counterpart Syahrul Yasin Limpo listens during a joint press conference after their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, July 14, 2022, (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

An Australian minister condemned on Tuesday as “absolutely disgusting” U.S. plans for a public execution by military firing squad to be livestreamed.

Nidal Hasan’s execution -- scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he gunned down 13 people in 2009 -- is set to be the first by US military firing squad since 1945.

A Pentagon official told AFP last week the execution would be streamed live, after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “we’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public.”

Asked about the plans on national broadcaster ABC, Australia’s environment minister Murray Watt said he found the idea “disgusting”.

“When I first heard that this was being proposed, I couldn’t believe that it was real,” he said.

“I think all Australians would agree that this is a very distressing thing to have publicised,” he added.

Plans for Hasan’s execution to be shown online have drawn broad condemnation both in the United States and internationally.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the plan, saying “the livestreaming of an execution is tantamount to a public execution and would breach the absolute prohibition of torture”.

In Australia there has been condemnation of the plans across the political spectrum.

Far-right lawmaker Barnaby Joyce described it as “Roman amphitheatre stuff”, while Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called for regulators to stop the execution being shown in Australia.

In a statement to AFP, Australia’s internet regulator said it did not have the powers to prevent it from being shown online.

But a spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner said “online services have responsibilities under Australia’s online safety regulatory framework to protect users from harmful material”.

oho/msp