Death sentences
Archive theme
A death sentence is not the same thing as an execution: years can pass between the two, and the sentence may be overturned on appeal, commuted, or never carried out. Counting them separately measures two different things: how far a state resorts to capital punishment, and how far it actually applies it.
This page collects the news on death sentences handed down around the world, on the later stages of appeal, and on the sentences upheld or overturned. Executions have a page of their own.
Latest news
JULY 1, 2025IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: CRIMINAL COURT GIVES DEATH SENTENCE TO TWO OVER EXECUTION OF TOP CLERIC SADR
An Iraqi criminal court on June 30, 2025 sentenced two men to death for involvement in the execution of prominent Shia cleric Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister during the brutal crackdown of former dictator Saddam Hussein on religious dissent.
- JUNE 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - New bill approved by parliament to punish collaborating with “hostile groups”
Death penalty for a wide range of offences
JUNE 30, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER OF FRIEND’S CHILDREN
The High Court in Alor Setar has sentenced a man to death for murdering his friend’s two young children six years ago, Free Malaysia Today reported on June 30, 2025.
JUNE 27, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Ronnie Walker sentenced to death
- JUNE 26, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM ENDS DEATH PENALTY FOR 8 CRIMES, MAY SPARE REAL ESTATE TYCOON
Vietnam has lifted the death penalty for eight crimes in legal reforms that may spare the life of a real estate tycoon imprisoned in the country’s largest financial fraud case, AP reported on June 26, 2025.
JUNE 26, 2025CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. ACLU Joins Calls to Gov. Newsom to Commute All Death Sentences
- JUNE 25, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 political prisoners executed on charges of espionage for Israel
JUNE 25, 2025MississippiDEATH PENALTYUSA - Mississippi. Richard Jordan, 79, White, was executed on June 25
By lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman
JUNE 25, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 11-YEAR OLD GIRL
A special Pocso court in Jalpaiguri sentenced 31-year old Haripada Roy to death for the rape and murder of an 11-year old girl, categorising it as a "rarest of rare" case, Times of India reported on June 11, 2025.
JUNE 24, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, White, was executed on June 24
Per lethal injection
JUNE 24, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: DEATH PENALTIES HANDED TO THREE DRUG TRAFFICKERS
A court in southern Vietnam has sentenced three drug traffickers to death for smuggling and selling more than 50 kilos of heroin and synthetic drugs, state media reported on June 18, 2025.
JUNE 24, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman, 2 men executed in Qom on June 24
JUNE 23, 2025ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: FORMER NATIONAL POLITICAL ADVISER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CORRUPTION
Liu Yuejin, a former national political adviser, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes of more than 121 million yuan ($16.83 million), a court in Fujian province announced on June 23, 2025.
JUNE 22, 2025IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: DEATH AND LIFE SENTENCES ISSUED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A court in Najaf, southern Iraq, on June 22, 2025 handed down death and life sentences to four individuals convicted of drug trafficking.
JUNE 20, 2025LouisianaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Louisiana. Federal judge vacates death penalty for Todd Wessinger
JUNE 19, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE OF STEPDAUGHTER IN KERANIGANJ
A Dhaka court has sentenced a man to death for the rape of his stepdaughter in Dhaka’s South Keraniganj four years ago.
JUNE 18, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: SYABU TRAFFICKER’S DEATH SENTENCE REPLACED WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT
A self-employed man, who received the capital punishment for trafficking in syabu, escaped the hangman’s noose after the Court of Appeal in Kota Kinabalu on June 17, 2025 substituted it with an imprisonment for life.
JUNE 17, 2025KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: AFTER 18 YEARS IN JAIL, COURT APOLOGISES TO MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
Lulu Adu was just 17 when he was sentenced to die in Kenya. Eighteen years later, a court finally acknowledged its mistake — and set him free, The Star reported on June 17, 2025.
JUNE 16, 2025ItalyDEATH PENALTYUSA - Antonio Veronese updates us on the case of John Huggins
John Huggins, 63, White, on death row in Florida
JUNE 13, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR and Hengaw: Warns of Execution of Defendants Accused of Espionage for Israel
JUNE 12, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: KOLKATA HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF EX WHO STABBED GIRL 45 TIMES
Calcutta High Court on June 11, 2025 commuted the death penalty awarded to a 24-year-old, for stabbing his ex-girlfriend 45 times, to life imprisonment without remission for 40 years.
- JUNE 11, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: COURT CLERK SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR LAWYER'S MURDER
A Dera Ghazi Khan court clerk has been sentenced to death and fined Rs600,000 after being found guilty of murdering a junior lawyer within the premises of the district court.
JUNE 11, 2025KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: KIBERA COURT SENTENCES SERIAL PHONE THIEF TO DEATH
A Kenyan court has handed a death sentence to Isaac Khanga after finding him guilty on two counts of robbery with violence, KBC Digital reported on June 10, 2025.
JUNE 11, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester Mojahed Kourkour Hanged in Ahvaz on June 11
JUNE 9, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: NINE SPECIAL PERSONS ON DEATH ROW IN PUNJAB PRISONS
At least nine physically disabled male prisoners are currently on death row across Punjab’s 43 operational jails, according to official data released by the office of IGP Prisons.
JUNE 8, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: NIGER PARDONS 11 INMATES ON DEATH ROW
Governor Mohammed Bago of Niger State has granted unconditional state pardon to 11 convicted persons who were on death row.
JUNE 4, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 2 MEN GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING MINOR SISTERS
A special SC/ST court in Hathras (Uttar Pradesh) has sentenced two men in their 30s to death for murdering two minor sisters in their sleep and attempting to kill their parents over a property dispute, Times of India reported on May 30, 2025.
JUNE 3, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 2 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 8-YR-OLD GIRL
A special court in Madhubani (Bihar) on May 31, 2025 sentenced two men, Sushil Rai and Om Prakash Jha, to death for the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old dalit girl.
MAY 29, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: KOREAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FATHER WHO DEFENDED DAUGHTER-IN-LAW
A Korean man living in Vietnam has been sentenced to death for brutally murdering his father, who had flown in from South Korea to intervene in a family dispute and support his daughter-in-law.
MAY 29, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: SUPREME COURT ACQUITS ISLAMIST LEADER ON DEATH ROW
Bangladesh's top court on May 27, 2025 overturned a conviction against a key leader of the country's main Islamist party, who had been on death row since being sentenced under the regime ousted last year.