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
MAY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A Woman Executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on May 1
Only identified as “Saghar”
MAY 1, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Peyman Farahavar sentenced to death
Gilak dissident poet
APRIL 30, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: GOSPEL SINGER OSINACHI’S HUSBAND SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING
Peter Nwachukwu, husband of late gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu, has been sentenced to death by hanging by the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.
APRIL 30, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men executed in Karaj (Ghezel Hesar) on April 30
APRIL 30, 2025Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 2012 YOUTH MURDER IN COLOMBO
The Colombo High Court on April 28, 2025 imposed the death penalty on five individuals for the brutal killing of a 21-year-old youth adjacent to a temple in Mattakkuliya in 2012.
APRIL 29, 2025Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: CITIZEN SENTENCED TO DEATH ON TERRORISM CHARGES
The Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia has issued an advisory informing citizens that a man has been sentenced to death on April 26, 2025.
- APRIL 28, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: 9 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING 91 KG OF DRUGS FROM CAMBODIA
Nine individuals received death sentences on April 26, 2025 for their roles in a major drug trafficking ring, which smuggled 91 kilograms of drugs hidden inside air purifiers and motorbikes from Cambodia into Vietnam.
- APRIL 28, 2025Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
SRI LANKA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WOMAN, HIDING BODY IN TRAVEL BAG
The Colombo High Court on April 24, 2025 sentenced a man to death for the murder of a woman whose body was found concealed in a travel bag—an incident that sent shockwaves across the country back in 2015.
- APRIL 27, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: CHRISTIAN IS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY IN AFTER 'DESECRATING THE KORAN'
A Christian man in the eastern Pakistani town of Jaranwala on April 21, 2025 was sentenced to death after being accused of desecrating the Koran, the Muslim holy book.
APRIL 24, 2025AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. James Osgood, 55, White, was executed on April 24
Osgood volunteered
APRIL 22, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING DAUGHTER IN CHUADANGA
A court has handed down the death penalty to a man for raping his daughter in Chuadanga.
APRIL 20, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF US NATIONAL EX-WIFE
An additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) in Rawalpindi on April 9, 2025 handed down death sentence to a man for killing his US national ex-wife over an issue of property worth billions of rupees.
- APRIL 18, 2025IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hamid Hosseinnejad Secretly Hanged
Kurdish Political Prisoner
APRIL 17, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heydaranlou at imminent risk of execution
APRIL 17, 2025TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Xavier Davis, 32, Black, sentenced to death
APRIL 16, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: THREE GET CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR MURDERING FIVE IN SINDHANUR
The murder of five individuals of a family in Sindhanur town (Karnataka state) in July 2020 has ended with capital punishment for three accused in the case.
APRIL 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amirhossein Maghsoudlou (Tataloo) Sentenced to Death
APRIL 15, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death Sentence of Naser Bakarzadeh Overturned
Accused of Espionage for Israel
APRIL 10, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 4 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING LABORER IN HABIGANJ
A Habiganj court on April 9, 2025 sentenced four people to death for the murder of a day laborer at Madhabpur upazila in the district.
- APRIL 9, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING MOTHER-IN-LAW WITH KALASHNIKOV
The Court of Cassation on April 8, 2025 upheld the verdict issued by the Court of Appeals which sentenced a 40-year-old Kuwaiti citizen to death for murdering his mother-in-law using a Kalashnikov rifle in Wafra.
- APRIL 7, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
TWO YEARS AFTER ABOLISHING THE MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY, DATA SHOWS MALAYSIA MAY BE MOVING ON FOR GOOD
Within two years year of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim administration abolishing the mandatory death penalty, the number of death row inmates has plunged by nearly 90 per cent
APRIL 7, 2025ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: POSTGRADUATE STUDENT SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POISONING ROOMMATES
Zhou Liren, a postgraduate student at Xiangtan University in Hunan province, was sentenced to death and life-long deprivation of political rights on April 7, 2025 for poisoning his two roommates' food, killing one of them, according to the Xiangtan Interm
APRIL 6, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MUSLIM GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDERING CHRISTIAN MAN
A judge in Pakistan on March 27, 2025 sentenced to death a Muslim who murdered a 20-year-old Christian in the presence of his family members, sources said.
APRIL 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kurdish political prisoner Pakhshan Azizi is at imminent risk of execution
After her second appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court
APRIL 4, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Joseph Ables, 75, White, sentenced to death
APRIL 3, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN, WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 10-MONTH-OLD MURDER CASE IN UP’S MAINPURI
A local court in Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) on March 18, 2025 sentenced two persons including a woman to death in connection with a 10-month-old murder case in Nanmai village under Karhal police station limits.
APRIL 3, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Motion of the European Parliament on executions in Iran
APRIL 2, 2025Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTYDR CONGO: DEATH SENTENCE FOR THREE AMERICANS OVER COUP ATTEMPT OVERTURNED
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi has downgraded the death sentences of three United States citizens convicted for taking part in a failed coup attempt last year, reducing their punishments to life imprisonment.
APRIL 2, 2025NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR ARMED ROBBERY IN EKITI
The Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti on March 27, 2025 sentenced two men to death by hanging for armed robbery.
- APRIL 1, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: MAN GETS DEATH, FINE IN MURDER CASE
Okara court of additional session judge (ASJ) on March 27, 2025 handed down capital punishment to a man, along with Rs0.5 million fine, in a murder case, besides seven-year jail term under Arms Ordinance, with 20,000 fine, in the same case.