WASHINGTON, April 15: Angel Francisco, a Paraguayan national was executed in Virginia late this evening. Breard was put to death by lethal injection at the Greensville prison in Jarratt, Virginia, for the 1992 murder and attempted rape of a 39-year-old neighbour.Earlier, the United States Supreme Court refused to reconsider the death sentence against Breard on Tuesday despite a call for a delay by the International Court of Justice. The announcement came about half an hour before Angel Francisco Breard was due to be executed at 9 PM. (0100 GMT Wednesday) in Virginia."Everything has been denied," a Supreme Court spokesman said. The decision by the nine judges of the highest US court followed requests by the ICJ as well as US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for the execution to be delayed. Paraguay has accused the United States of violating the 1963 Vienna Convention, under which anyone arrested in a foreign country has the right to confer with a consular official. Only Virginia Governor JamesGilmore still theoretically could halt the execution by pardoning Breard, 32, but he had earlier spoken firmly in favour of the sentence being carried out and said he would respect the Supreme Court's decision.
