14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, CCTV, the state-run Chinese network, announced that it would air live a 2-hour TV special that would conclude with the execution of a vicious drug lord and his lieutenants, convicted of the murder of 13 people.
It pulled the plug on airing the execution at the last minute.
ABC News reports that the people initially greeted the announcement with excitement, mostly because of the gruesome nature of the crimes Naw Kham and his people were charged with.
However, the same media outlet notes, as the execution parade proceeded on TV, reactions online became increasingly negative, with more and more viewers saying it was wrong.
“CCTV announced the two-hour special that would feature live reports from the location where the men would be killed by lethal injection in Kumming, Yunnan Province,” ABC News says.
The TV special aired but ended abruptly right before the execution, with CCTV offering no official explanation for the decision to go back on the initial announcement.