Zimbabwe's incoming leader returns home to cheers

Poised to become Zimbabwe's next president, a former confidant of ousted leader Robert Mugabe on Wednesday promised "a new, unfolding democracy" and reached out to the world, saying international help is needed to rebuild the shattered economy.

Zimbabwe's President in waiting Emmerson Mnangagwa, greets supporters gathered outside the Zanu-PF party headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who fled Zimbabwe upon being fired from his job as vice president on Nov. 6, made a triumphant return to the country a day after 93-year-old Mugabe resigned. His departure after 37 years in power followed a week of intense pressure — from the military that staged a government takeover, from members of parliament who started impeachment proceedings and from citizens who protested in the streets.

While Mnangagwa talked in his speech about democracy and "working together," he also recited slogans from the ruling ZANU-PF party such as "Forward with ZANU-PF, down with enemies" that are unlikely to attract Zimbabweans in the opposition.

He served for decades as Mugabe's enforcer, a role that earned him the nickname "Crocodile." Many opposition supporters believe he was instrumental in the army killings of thousands of people when Mugabe moved against a political rival in the 1980s.

Zimbabwe's incoming leader Emmerson Mnangagwa, center at podium, speaks to supporters gathered outside the Zanu-PF party headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Mnangagwa was in hiding during the political drama that led to Mugabe's resignation. His appearance at the headquarters of the party electrified a crowd that waited for hours. Flanked by bodyguards, and dressed in a blue suit, he raised his fists and danced a little on a podium, delighting supporters who hope he can guide Zimbabwe out of political and economic turmoil that has exacted a heavy toll on the southern African nation of 16 million.

"Today we are witnessing the beginning of a new, unfolding democracy," said the 75-year-old, who added that he had already received messages of support from other countries.

"We need the cooperation of the continent of Africa," he said. "We need the cooperation of our friends outside the continent."

A supporter of Zimbabwe's incoming leader Emmerson Mnangagwa holds his portrait while waiting for him to arrive at the Zanu PF Headquarters in Harare, Wednesday, Nov, 22, 2017.  (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

After meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma, Mnangagwa flew in a private jet from South Africa to Zimbabwe. He indicated that his inauguration as president will be on Friday. That is "when we finish this job to legally install a new president," he said.

Mnangagwa will serve Mugabe's remaining term until elections next year. Opposition lawmakers who have alleged vote-rigging in the past say that balloting must be free and fair.

The party's Central Committee had voted to remove Mugabe from his party leadership post and replace him with Mnangagwa, a former justice and defense minister with close ties to the military.

Zimbabwe's President in waiting Emmerson Mnangagwa, center, greets supporters gathered outside the Zanu-PF party headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Mugabe fired his longtime deputy as the former president's wife, Grace Mugabe, positioned herself to replace him and succeed her husband. That led the military to step into the party's factional battle a week ago by sending tanks into the streets and putting the president under house arrest — a move that opened the door for the party and the people to turn against the leader who took power after the end of white minority rule in 1980.

The resignation was met with wild celebrations across the Zimbabwean capital of Harare. People were thrilled to be rid of a leader whose early promise, including an emphasis on education, was overtaken by economic collapse, government dysfunction and human rights violations.

Mnangagwa "faces high expectations but will have a short honeymoon while he starts the process of moving Zimbabwe forward," the state-run Zimbabwe Herald newspaper said in a commentary.

Supporters of Zimbabwe's President in waiting Emmerson Mnangagwa, known as "The Crocodile", raise a stuffed crocodile in the air as they await his arrival at the Zanu-PF party headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

"He has the best wishes of most Zimbabweans, at least today," the newspaper said.

One unemployed man who heard that Mnangagwa was arriving at an air force base on the outskirts of Harare waited in vain at its entrance in hopes of seeing him.

Godwin Nyarugwa said he was "very ecstatic" about Mugabe's resignation and that "we need change in this country, change in everything" after years of economic crisis. But he said Mnangagwa would have to produce results.

A young supporters of Zimbabwe's President in waiting Emmerson Mnangagwa adjusts his beret as he awaits his arrival at the Zanu-PF party headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

"We have to try him and see," he said of Mnangagwa. "If he doesn't come up with something, we need to change him as well."

A supporter of Zimbabwe's President in waiting Emmerson Mnangagwa, known as "The Crocodile", raise a stuffed crocodile in the air as they await his arrival at the Zanu-PF party headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri's execution protocol allows for “surgery without anesthesia” if the typical process of finding a suitable vein to inject the lethal drug doesn't work, lawyers for a death row inmate say in an appeal aimed at sparing his life.

Brian Dorsey, 52, is scheduled for execution Tuesday for killing his cousin and her husband at their central Missouri home in 2006. His attorneys are seeking clemency from Gov. Mike Parson and have several appeals pending.

A federal court appeal focuses on how Missouri injects the fatal dose of pentobarbital. The written protocol calls for insertion of primary and secondary intravenous lines. But it offers no guidance on how far the execution team can go to find a suitable vein, leaving open the possibility of an invasive “cutdown procedure,” Dorsey's attorneys say.

The procedure involves an incision that could be several inches wide and several inches deep. Forceps are used to tear tissue away from a vein that becomes the injection point.

“It's surgery,” said Arin Brenner, a federal public defender and one of the attorneys representing Dorsey. “It would be surgery without anesthesia.”

Brenner said Dorsey faces a higher-than-normal risk of needing a cutdown because he is obese. His veins also might be compromised because he is diabetic and a former IV drug user.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Andrew Bailey didn't comment but referred to the state's response to the appeal.

“Cut-down procedures are rarely, if ever, used under Missouri’s execution protocol,” the response stated. “And in the event that a cut-down procedure were necessary, medical personnel have access to pain relieving medications.”

Medication would be inadequate and if the procedure is necessary, Dorsey should receive a local anesthetic, said Megan Crane, another attorney for him.

“It is extremely painful," Crane said. “Even if given an oral pain relief or an opioid, that will not relieve the pain.”

Lawyers for Dorsey say use of the surgical procedure would violate his constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment and also his right to religious freedom, because it would prevent him from having meaningful interaction with his spiritual adviser, including the administration of last rites.

The issue isn't theoretical. In Idaho, the scheduled execution of serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech in February was halted after a medical team unsuccessfully tried eight times establish an IV. It is unclear whether, when or how the state might try again to execute him.

Missouri's execution process is shrouded in secrecy, so it's impossible to know if, or how often, cutdown procedures have been required. No independent observer sees the IV line inserted. The spiritual adviser doesn't enter the room until the preparation is complete. Witnesses sit in dark rooms with curtains drawn until corrections officers open them seconds before the drug is injected.

Attorneys for Dorsey wonder if a cutdown procedure was used in January 2023 when Amber McLaughlin was executed. It was believed to be the first execution of an openly transgender person in the U.S.

The Rev. Lauren Bennett of St. Louis served as McLaughlin's spiritual adviser. She recalled McLaughlin saying, “Ouch, ouch, ouch. It hurts," but said McLaughlin was unable to explain the cause of her pain before her death.

Issues with the IV have been problematic in executions elsewhere.

In 2014, Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett was declared dead 43 minutes after his execution began, at times writhing in pain and clenching his teeth through the process. A state investigation showed that the execution team repeatedly failed to insert an IV line in his arms, jugular vein, foot and subclavian vein in the upper torso, before eventually running a line through a vein in Lockett’s groin.

The review found that Lockett died after the line came loose, and that the deadly chemicals were pumped into the tissue surrounding the injection site instead of directly into his bloodstream. There is no indication in the report that Lockett was ever given an anesthetic.

In 2022, it took more than three hours to execute Joe Nathan James Jr. in Alabama. The state said the process was delayed because of difficulties establishing an IV line. Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology at Emory University and an expert on lethal injection who witnessed the private autopsy, said he saw “multiple puncture sites on both arms” and two incisions in the middle of the arm, which he said were indications of efforts to perform a cutdown. It's unclear if he received anesthesia.

Messages were left Friday with corrections officials in Oklahoma and Alabama.

Dorsey, formerly of Jefferson City, was convicted of killing his cousin, Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, Ben, on Dec. 23, 2006, at their home near New Bloomfield. Prosecutors said that earlier that day, Dorsey called Sarah Bonnie seeking to borrow money to pay two drug dealers who were at his apartment.

Dorsey went to the Bonnies’ home that night. After they went to bed, Dorsey took a shotgun from the garage and killed both of them before sexually assaulting Sarah Bonnie’s body, prosecutors said.

Sarah Bonnie’s parents found the bodies the next day. The couple’s 4-year-old daughter was unhurt.

In the clemency petition, 72 current and former state correctional officers asked Parson, a Republican and a former county sheriff, to commute Dorsey’s sentence to life in prison, citing his virtually spotless record of good behavior while in prison.

“The Brian I have known for years could not hurt anyone,” one officer wrote. “The Brian I know does not deserve to be executed.”

A spokesperson said Parson is still reviewing the clemency request.

An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court centers on the $12,000 flat fee for Dorsey's court-appointed trial attorneys. The appeal argues that with the flat fee, his lawyers had a financial incentive to resolve the case quickly. They encouraged Dorsey to plead guilty, but with no demand that prosecutors agree to life in prison instead of the death penalty.

Dorsey's attorneys also had asked the Missouri Supreme Court to stay the execution on the grounds that the Department of Corrections' acting director, Trevor Foley, has not been confirmed by the state Senate and is therefore unqualified to oversee an execution. The court denied that request Friday.

AP reporter Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed.

A photo released by the Federal Public Defender, shows inmate Brian Dorsey at the Potosi Correctional Center, Washington County, Missouri. Dorsey is scheduled to be executed Tuesday, April 9, 2024, for killing two people in 2006. (Jeremy Weis, Federal Public Defender via AP)

A photo released by the Federal Public Defender, shows inmate Brian Dorsey at the Potosi Correctional Center, Washington County, Missouri. Dorsey is scheduled to be executed Tuesday, April 9, 2024, for killing two people in 2006. (Jeremy Weis, Federal Public Defender via AP)