
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that the execution of former US Army Major Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13 soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, will be public and may be broadcast live.
According to a Defense Department official quoted by the BBC, the execution is scheduled for December 3 in Texas and will be carried out by firing squad. If carried out, it would be the first military execution in the US since 1961 and an unprecedented case if broadcast live.
"We're going to make sure people are able to see it, that it's public," Hegseth declared, adding that people need to understand the consequences of such actions.
Nidal Hasan, a US military psychiatrist, opened fire on a medical building at Fort Hood base in 2009, killing 13 unarmed soldiers and wounding dozens more.
During a military trial in 2013, he admitted responsibility for the attack and was sentenced to death. In court, Hasan stated that he believed he was defending Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon has announced that President Donald Trump has approved the recommendation for execution, while legal procedures remain a crucial issue for its implementation.
The announcement of a live-streamed execution has sparked debate among legal experts and human rights activists.
John Mills, a lawyer who represents death row inmates, has called the idea unprecedented in the modern era and with significant legal uncertainties.
Meanwhile, Eugene Fidell, a lecturer at Yale Law School, criticized the possibility of broadcasting, calling it an outdated practice and inappropriate for modern society.