Bulgaria
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1998
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- DECEMBER 10, 1998 · On December 10, 1998, by an overwhelming majority,...
- News items in the archive
- 149
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Bulgaria is classified as Abolitionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 149 news items on Bulgaria, from 1998 to today.
Latest news
- NOVEMBER 17, 2025BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
BULGARIA DELAYS EXTRADITION OF BEIRUT BLAST SUSPECT PENDING DEATH PENALTY ASSURANCES
A Bulgarian court on November 10, 2025 postponed a hearing on Lebanon’s request to extradite Igor Grechushkin, the Russian-Cypriot ship operator linked to the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people, pending assurances that he will not
- JANUARY 1, 2020BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2019BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- DECEMBER 5, 2018BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
BULGARIA EXTRADITES GRAFT SUSPECT TO CHINA
A former Chinese official accused of taking bribes has been extradited from Bulgaria to China in the first such move by an European Union member state, Beijing's top graft buster said on 30 November 2018.
- JANUARY 1, 2018BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2017BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2016BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2015BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2014BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2013BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
DECEMBER 15, 2012BulgariaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: COURT REPLACES BULGARIANS' DEATH SENTENCE WITH LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
The court in Malaysia cancelled the death sentence on Bulgarians Georgi Bakalov and
- JANUARY 1, 2012BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2011BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2010BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 28, 2009BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
EXECUTION AWAITS BULGARIAN DRIVER IN IRAN
A Bulgarian truck driver who had been missing for four months has be
- JANUARY 1, 2009BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- JANUARY 1, 2008BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- DECEMBER 18, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Bulgaria voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium...
Bulgaria voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium...
- JULY 24, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
BULGARIAN MEDICS PARDONED UPON RETURN
five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were pardoned by President Georgi Parvanov upon their arrival in Sofia after spending 8 years in prison in Libya.
- JULY 17, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA LIFTS EXECUTION FOR HIV MEDICS AFTER PAYMENTS TO FAMILIES OF INFECTED CHILDREN
Libya dropped death sentences against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of infecting hundreds of children with HIV, commuting their punishments to life in prison, the foreign minister said
- JULY 12, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
EU EXPRESSES REGRET OVER MEDICS DEATH SENTENCE
the European Parliament expressed its disappointment with the Libyan Supreme
- JULY 11, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. COURT CONFIRMS DEATH PENALTY FOR FOREIGN MEDICS
a Libyan court confirmed a death sentence against six foreign
- MAY 18, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARIANS BACK LIBYAN DEATH SENTENCE ON BULGARIANS
African parliamentarians backed death sentences imposed in Libya on five Bulgarian nurses and a
- MARCH 9, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
Suleiman Shahoumi, secretary of the Foreign Affairs...
Suleiman Shahoumi, secretary of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Libya's General Peoples Congress...
- JANUARY 29, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. GADDAFI'S SON SAYS BULGARIAN NURSES TO BE SPARED EXECUTION
Libya will not execute five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death last month, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said in a newspaper interview, calling the verdicts unfair.
- JANUARY 1, 2007BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
The death penalty for all crimes was abolished on December 10, 1998.
- DECEMBER 19, 2006BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. FOREIGN MEDICS SENTENCED TO DIE IN HIV CASE
a Libyan court sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death for deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
- DECEMBER 6, 2006BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. NEW EVIDENCE MAY EXONERATE BULGARIA’S NURSES
Nature Magazine has published a report claiming that there is new evidence to the innocence of the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of causing a HIV pandemic in a Benghazi hospital.
- AUGUST 28, 2006BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT IN HIV CASE
Libyan prosecutor Omar Abdulkhaleq demanded the death penalty for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor on trial for the second time on charges that they infected hundreds of children with the HIV virus.
- JULY 17, 2006BulgariaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. QADDAFI COULD GRANT BULGARIAN NURSES AMNESTY
Libyan court will confirm the death sentences of Bulgaria's five nurses, a newspaper has said citing anonymous sources.