Commutations of sentence and acts of clemency
Archive theme
A death sentence can be turned into a prison sentence by an act of clemency: commutation, pardon, amnesty, remission. These rest with heads of state, courts and clemency boards, and not infrequently arrive within hours of an execution.
For the association they are a concrete front: every commutation is a life, and the countries that grant many of them are often the ones closest to a moratorium in fact. This page collects the news on commutations, pardons and acts of clemency.
Latest news
JANUARY 14, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Agofsky and Davis can't legally object to Biden's death row commutations
DOJ argues
JANUARY 13, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE OF EX-LORRY DRIVER CONVICTED OF RAPE-CUM-MURDER OF ELDERLY WOMAN COMMUTED TO 40 YEARS IMPRISONMENT
A former lorry driver who murdered an 85-year-old woman after raping and sodomising her in 2019 has his death sentence commuted to 40 years in prison by the Federal Court on January 13, 2025.
JANUARY 9, 2025DEATH PENALTYINDIA: SENTENCED TO DEATH AS MINOR, MAN SET FREE AFTER 23 YEARS
The Supreme Court of India on January 8, 2025 set free a minor offender, more than 23 years after he was sentenced to death by an Uttarakhand court in a murder case
- JANUARY 7, 2025DEATH PENALTY
USA - Two death row inmates reject Biden’s clemency
Shannon Agofsky and Len Davis
DECEMBER 31, 2024DEATH PENALTYUSA - North Carolina. Clemency for 15 death row prisoners
- DECEMBER 23, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA: Biden commutes 37 of 40 federal death sentences
President Joe Biden announced on December 23 that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment.
DECEMBER 23, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - List of 37 commuted by Biden
DECEMBER 18, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: OSUN GOVERNOR ORDERS PROBE, CLEMENCY FOR MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR STEALING FOWL
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has ordered an urgent review of the case involving a teenager sentenced to death for stealing a fowl.
DECEMBER 18, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: HIGH COURT COMMUTES ULFA LEADER'S DEATH SENTENCE
A Bangladeshi High Court on December 18, 2024 commuted the death sentence of ULFA leader Paresh Barua to life imprisonment and acquitted a former junior minister and five others in a 2004 case of attempted smuggling of weapons.
DECEMBER 13, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people
For non-violent crimes
- DECEMBER 9, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pope Francis and many others urge Biden to commute all federal death sentences
DECEMBER 5, 2024Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: UTTAR PRADESH MAN GIVEN DEATH PENALTY ON DRUG CHARGES
A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh to death on charges of drug trafficking, triggering panic and despair among his family members who have pleaded for clemency, PTI reported on December 4, 2024.
- DECEMBER 4, 2024FranceDEATH PENALTY
FRANCE REQUESTS TRANSFER OF DEATH ROW CONVICT HELD IN INDONESIA
France has asked Indonesia to transfer a French death row convict, who has been jailed for drug crimes in the country since 2005, a senior minister told AFP on November 29, 2024.
NOVEMBER 29, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE - Iranian-Singaporean Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad executed on November 29
Arrested at 20 for 31 grams of diamorphine
- NOVEMBER 27, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Biden Contemplates Federal Commutation Requests
Clemency to the 40 men currently on federal death row
- NOVEMBER 19, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF ACCUSED IN MINOR’S RAPE-MURDER
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on November 15, 2024 commuted the death sentence of a man accused in the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl into life imprisonment.
NOVEMBER 7, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: OVER 800 DEATH ROW SENTENCES COMMUTED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT UNDER NEW ACT
Eighteen people were sentenced to death in Malaysia between Jan 1 and Oct 14 this year.
NOVEMBER 1, 2024South CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - South Carolina. Richard Moore, 59, Black, was executed on November 1
OCTOBER 23, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: APEX COURT COMMUTES EX-FACTORY WORKERS’ DEATH SENTENCES
Malaysia’s Federal Court has commuted the death sentences of two former factory workers to 34 years in prison, along with 12 strokes of the cane each, for the murder of an acquaintance 13 years ago.
OCTOBER 17, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. State Supreme Court halted Robert Roberson’s execution
- OCTOBER 16, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APEX COURT COMMUTES EX-SAWMILL WORKER’S DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPE AND MURDER TO 40 YEARS IN PRISON
The Federal Court in Putrajaya on August 7, 2024 commuted the death sentence of a former sawmill worker to 40 years in prison for killing and raping a nurse nine years ago.
OCTOBER 16, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. House committee approves subpoena for Robert Roberson ahead of his October 17 execution
OCTOBER 15, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ALLAHABAD HC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF FATHER, SON IN 19-YEAR-OLD DOUBLE MURDER CASE
The Allahabad high court on September 27, 2024 commuted the death sentence of a father-son duo, convicted in a 2005 double murder case, to life imprisonment.
- OCTOBER 10, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF NAJIB’S FORMER BODYGUARD
Malaysia has commuted the death sentence of an ex-police guard of former premier Najib Razak, after the Southeast Asian country changed its law on capital punishment.
- OCTOBER 7, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HIGH COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
The high court in Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala, has commuted the death sentence awarded to Rajith, the prime convict in the 2013 murder case of a four-year-old girl in Chottanikkara, to life imprisonment, Times of India reported on September 14, 2
- OCTOBER 3, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF MAN WHO KILLED MOTHER
The Putrajaya Court of Appeal on August 26, 2024 commuted the death sentence to 40 years in prison for a man who murdered his mother and dumped her body in a septic tank six years ago.
OCTOBER 1, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Lawmakers Pray With Robert Roberson
And Urge Clemency to Stop Oct.17 Execution
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, Black, was executed on September 26
The 17th execution this year in the US
SEPTEMBER 16, 2024ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: EX-PM THAKSIN SHINAWATRA GETS ROYAL PARDON
Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has received a royal pardon, ending his parole on August 11, 2024, according to his lawyer, Winyat Chartmontri.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: DEATH SENTENCES OF CONVICTS IN 2013 GANDHI MAIDAN BLASTS COMMUTED
The Patna high court on September 11, 2024 commuted the death penalty of four persons convicted for the 2013 blasts targeting Narendra Modi's poll rally in Patna to 30 years of imprisonment.