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
- DECEMBER 31, 2024Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DRC: 13 SOLDIERS TO HANG FOR MURDER, LOOTING, COWARDICE
A Congolese military tribunal on December 31, 2024 sentenced 13 soldiers to death on charges including murder, looting, and cowardice in what military authorities said was a drive to improve army discipline after territorial losses due to soldiers fleeing
DECEMBER 31, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: FATHER-SON DUO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING RELATIVE IN 2014 LAND DISPUTE CASE
A Bareilly court on December 24, 2024 sentenced a father-son duo to death in connection with a decade-old murder case, also imposing a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each.
DECEMBER 30, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: HCMC COURT SENTENCES 27 TO DEATH IN DRUG TRAFFICKING CASE
The HCMC People's Court sentenced a Vietnamese drug lord and her 26 subordinates to death on December 27, 2024 for drug trafficking
DECEMBER 30, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester (Mojahed) Korkor sentenced to death
For the second time
DECEMBER 24, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRIVER IN SCHOOL ATTACK
A man in Changde, Hunan province, was sentenced to death with two years' reprieve on December 23, 2024 for committing the crime of using dangerous means to harm public security, according to Xinhua News Agency.
- 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, 2024ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: BIKER GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR PATTAYA MURDER
A member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club on December 20, 2024 was sentenced to death and two others given life imprisonment in Thailand for the murder of a German property broker whose dismembered body was found in a freezer in Pattaya last year.
- DECEMBER 23, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: MAN GIVEN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR KILLING OF A JUDGE
A man who fatally stabbed a judge over dissatisfaction with her ruling was sentenced to death by a court in China's Henan province, local authorities said on December 23, 2024.
DECEMBER 19, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - “The Death Penalty in 2024: Year End Report”
25 executions, 26 new death sentences
DECEMBER 19, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF YU HUAYING FOR CHILD ABDUCTING AND TRAFFICKING
The Guizhou Provincial High People's Court in Southwest China on December 19, 2024 upheld the death sentence of Yu Huaying, who was charged with abducting and trafficking 17 children.
DECEMBER 19, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Attorney General Refuses to Cooperate with Committee Subpoena for Robert Roberson
Blocking His Testimony for the 2nd Time
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, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 men executed in Karaj (Ghezel-Hesar) on December 18
Hassan Ali Yousefi, Majid Jamshidi, Sohrab Ahmadipour, Abdolbari Pakouhi, Farzad Nowruzi, and Rastgouyi Kondelaj
- DECEMBER 18, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 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 17, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Lawmakers issue new subpoena for Robert Roberson's testimony
- DECEMBER 16, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saman Mohammadi Khiareh at Imminent Risk of Execution
Kurdish political prisoner
DECEMBER 16, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING 100 KG OF DRUGS
A Vietnamese-Canadian man, along with three accomplices, was sentenced to death on December 16, 2024 for trafficking over 100 kg of drugs into Vietnam.
DECEMBER 15, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 men + 1 woman executed in Yazd on December 15
Mohammad Ali Kharkouhi, Reza Kharkouhi, Abdolbaset Toutazehi, Abdolnasser Toutazehi, Ne’matollah Toutazehi, Salah Rahimi + unidentified woman
DECEMBER 13, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people
For non-violent crimes
DECEMBER 11, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BOMBAY HC SETS ASIDE DEATH PENALTY OF KEY ACCUSED FOR MURDER OF PUNE FAMILY IN 1997, ORDERS HIS RELEASE
The Bombay High Court on December 9, 2024 set aside the death penalty granted to the key accused by a lower court for the murder of four members of a family, including two children, 27 years ago in Pune.
- DECEMBER 10, 2024United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: BRITISH NATIONAL SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Sessions Court in Jhelum, Pakistan, on December 7, 2024 handed down a death sentence to a British national for the murder of his British-Pakistani uncle.
- DECEMBER 10, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE AWARDED TO YOUTH IN 61 DAYS FOR MINOR'S RAPE-MURDER IN JAYNAGAR
A POCSO court in Baruipur of West Bengal's South 24 Parganas on December 5, 2024 awarded death sentence to Mustaqin, convicted of rape and murder of a minor girl from Jaynagar.
DECEMBER 9, 2024EthiopiaDEATH PENALTYETHIOPIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN IN TIGRAY OVER KIDNAPPING AND KILLING OF 16-YEAR-OLD GIRL
One man has been sentenced to death in the Tigray region, Ethiopia, for the kidnapping and killing of a girl, Borkena News reported on December 5, 2024.
- DECEMBER 9, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FATHER SENTENCED TO LIFE, GIRLFRIEND TO DEATH FOR ABUSE AND KILLING OF GIRL
The father of a 3-year-old girl was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his girlfriend received the death penalty on December 6, 2024 for the brutal abuse and killing of the child in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
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.
DECEMBER 4, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Jason Alan Thornburg, 44, White, sentenced to death
- DECEMBER 3, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 45th week of “No to Executions Tuesdays”
DECEMBER 3, 2024MissouriDEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Christopher Collings, 49, White, was executed on December 3
DECEMBER 3, 2024CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Richard Tyrone Garcia, 41, Hispanic, sentenced to death