BEIJING — The prominent state-run Chinese newspapers Xinhua and the Global Times published stills from a porn movie that they believed depicted an inhumane execution, the IBTimes reported.
The media outlets ran 40 images under the headline, “An Actual Record of the Execution of a Female Inmate: Unveiling the World's Darkest Side."
The photos, they claimed, show a woman’s final moments before being put to death through lethal injection. However, a blog Out of My Face revealed that the images were actually screengrabs from a hardcore fetish flick called “Lethal Injection.” The movie was featured on a porn site dedicated primarily to simulated rape.
The images show a young Caucasian woman being forcibly led down a bleak, white hallway and gruffly strapped into a gurney by a female guard (who has light blue hair). During the struggle, the "prisoner" reveals her breasts and other intimate areas.
The prisoner is then given a lethal injection by a tall man with a ponytail and a surgical mask. She slumps down, presumably dead, with her shirt open.
According to the IBTimes, each of the photos were stamped with the logo of a Chinese website specializing in military affairs.
Xinhua and the Global Times promptly removed the images when their true origins were revealed.
While China does not report figures on capital punishment, it has been estimated that the country executes around 4,000 people each year.
