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
MAY 2, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: EX-POLICEMEN'S DEATH SENTENCES COMMUTED TO 40 YEARS IN JAIL FOR KILLING MECHANIC
Two former policemen escaped the gallows after the Federal Court’s three-member panel on April 30, 2024 commuted the death sentences imposed on them to 40 years in jail for the murder of an Indonesian mechanic 18 years ago.
APRIL 29, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY TO LIFE
The Kerala High Court has modified the death sentence awarded to Narendra Kumar, a native of Uttar Pradesh and the sole accused in the Parampuzha triple murder case, to life imprisonment without remission for 20 years for the murder offence.
- APRIL 21, 2024ZimbabweDEATH PENALTY
ZIMBABWE FREES PRISONERS, INCLUDING THOSE SENTENCED TO DEATH, IN AN INDEPENDENCE DAY AMNESTY
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted clemency to more than 4,000 prisoners, including some who were on death row, in an independence day amnesty on April 18, 2024.
APRIL 18, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: 54 PRISONERS ESCAPE DEATH SENTENCE, SENTENCES COMMUTED TO 30-38 YEARS JAIL
A total of 54 prisoners escaped death by hanging in Malaysia, after the Federal Court, sitting at the High Court in Kota Baru, Malaysia, on April 18, 2024, commuted their sentences to imprisonment between 30 and 38 years.
APRIL 17, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Appeals court re-sentenced Tomas Raul Gallo to life in prison
Because of his intellectual disability
- APRIL 11, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. One step forward for Melissa Lucio
The highly controversial case of a woman on death row
APRIL 9, 2024MissouriDEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Brian Dorsey, 52, White, was executed
5th prisoner executed in the U.S. this year
APRIL 4, 2024OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Michael Dewayne Smith, 41, Black, was executed
APRIL 3, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death Sentence for Police Officer Jafar Javanmardi, who Killed Protester
Reflections on a very rare event
MARCH 20, 2024DEATH PENALTYUSA - Georgia. Willie Pye, 59, Black, was executed
3rd execution of 2024 in the US
- MARCH 19, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE OF CAMBODIAN MAN COMMUTED TO 60 YEARS IN PRISON FOR CAUSING DEATH
A Cambodian man, who was convicted of murdering two boys and two women, breathed a sigh of relief on March 12, 2024 after his death sentence was commuted to 60 years imprisonment by the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya.
- MARCH 14, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: TWO MEN GET DEATH SENTENCES COMMUTED
Two death sentences on March 13, 2024 were commuted in separate rulings at the Federal Court and Court of Appeal, in Putrajaya
MARCH 13, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH SENTENCE OVERTURNED FOR KUDOKAI GANG BOSS
A Japanese high court on March 12, 2024 overturned a lower court ruling sentencing the head of the Kudokai crime syndicate to death over four cases of attacks on ordinary citizens.
FEBRUARY 28, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Ivan Cantu, 50, White, executed
garnered support from celebrities
FEBRUARY 6, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: 5 ON DEATH ROW IN SABAH SPARED THE GALLOWS
Five prisoners on death row in Sabah on February 5, 2024 saw their capital punishment substituted to imprisonment by the Federal Court.
JANUARY 27, 2024LouisianaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Louisiana. Darrell Robinson's guilty verdict overturned
By the state Supreme Court
JANUARY 23, 2024AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - The Slow Undoing of America's Death Penalty
JANUARY 18, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KARNATAKA HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IN DOUBLE MURDER CASE
The Dharwad bench of the High Court in Karnataka state has refused to confirm the death sentence imposed upon three people in a double murder case, observing that the case does not answer the test of ‘rarest of rare case’, TNN reported on January 15, 2024
DECEMBER 30, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: GOV. SANWO-OLU OF LAGOS STATE RELEASES 246 INMATES, COMMUTES 39 DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT
Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has approved the release of 246 inmates from various correctional facilities across the state.
- DECEMBER 29, 2023QatarDEATH PENALTY
QATAR COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF 8 INDIAN NAVY VETERANS
A Qatar court has reduced sentences for eight former Indian Navy personnel involved in an alleged espionage case, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on December 28, 2023.
DECEMBER 27, 2023VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: PRESIDENT REDUCES DEATH SENTENCE TO LIFE FOR 18 PRISONERS
President Vo Van Thuong signed a decision on December 27, 2023 to reduce death penalties to life imprisonment for 18 prisoners who filed petitions for commuted sentences.
- DECEMBER 13, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED, WORKER GETS 33 YEARS FOR KILLING FOREMAN
A Bangladeshi man escaped the gallows after the Federal Court in Putrajaya on December 23, 2023 commuted his death sentence to 33 years in jail for murdering his fellow countryman.
- DECEMBER 7, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES OF 9 TRAFFICKERS TO 30 YEARS’ JAIL
A 76-year-old former security guard on death row was among nine men who saw their death sentences commuted to 30 years’ jail under the temporary jurisdiction accorded to the Federal Court by law, FMT reported on December 6, 2023.
- DECEMBER 4, 2023ChinaDEATH PENALTY
PHILIPPINES SAYS CHINA HAS EXECUTED TWO FILIPINOS CONVICTED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING DESPITE APPEALS
China has executed two Filipinos for drug trafficking despite high-level Philippine government appeals to commute their death sentences to life in prison, the Philippine government said December 2, 2023.
NOVEMBER 30, 2023OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Phillip Hancock, 59, White, was executed
24th and last execution in the US in 2023
- NOVEMBER 22, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APPEAL COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE TO 30 YEARS JAIL FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS
A former mechanic and a former cosmetician, convicted of two counts of trafficking drugs, had their death sentences commuted to 30 years in prison on November 22, 2023 by the Court of Appeal.
- NOVEMBER 16, 2023MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: APEX COURT COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY AND NATURAL-LIFE IMPRISONMENT OF 11 CONVICTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A total of 11 individuals convicted for drug trafficking became the first batch of inmates to have their death sentence and natural-life imprisonment commuted under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdictio
NOVEMBER 8, 2023OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Phillip Hancock receives clemency recommendation
NOVEMBER 2, 2023BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: TOP COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES OF 7 MILITANTS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR 2016 CAFE ATTACK
Bangladesh’s High Court on October 30, 2023 commuted the death sentences of seven Islamic militants to life in prison for their role in a 2016 attack on a cafe in the capital, Dhaka, that killed 20 people, mostly foreigners.
OCTOBER 31, 2023PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: PHC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF CONVICT IN MULTIPLE MURDER CASE
Peshawar High Court has commuted death sentence awarded to a convict to life imprisonment for killing four of his close family members including his father and brother in Nowshera district around six years ago, Dawn reported on October 30, 2023.