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
SEPTEMBER 13, 2024Congo - BrazzavilleDEATH PENALTYUSA - 3 Americans and 34 Others Sentenced to Death in Congo
On Coup Charges
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2024EthiopiaDEATH PENALTY
ETHIOPIA PARDONS 178 DEFENSE FORCE MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Ethiopia’s Defense Force announced on September 10, 2024 that it has pardoned 178 ethnic Tigrayan members of the Ethiopian Defense Force, who were sentenced to death by court martial in connection with the November 2020 attack on the Northern Command in t
SEPTEMBER 11, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sajjad Bandegi and Abdulrahman Tajik executed in Karaj on September 11
SEPTEMBER 9, 2024EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE IN GENERAL’S MURDER CASE
The Egyptian Criminal Court upheld the death sentence on September 3, 2024 against Essam Abdel Majeed, who was convicted of killing Major General Nabil Farag.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: COMMUNIST PARTY OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA’S LARGEST CORRUPTION CASE
A former Chinese Communist Party official, accused of embezzling a staggering USD 421 million - the largest-ever corruption case in China's history, on August 27, 2024 was sentenced to death by a court in Inner Mongolia.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 men executed in Zahedan
Saeed Hassanzahi, … Roudini, Noor-Mohammad Noori (Noorzahi), Farzad Sanchouli + 2 unk
AUGUST 21, 2024TennesseeDEATH PENALTYUSA - Tennessee. Sean Finnegan gets death penalty for murder of Jennifer Gail Paxto
AUGUST 20, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The Continuation of the "No to Execution Tuesdays" Campaign in 18 Prisons Across the Country
Thirty Weeks of Resistance Against Executions
AUGUST 19, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Karami-Zadeh and Esmaiel Jawadi executed in Karaj on August 19
AUGUST 8, 2024IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: THREE PAKISTANI NATIONALS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TERRORISM AND ROBBERY CHARGES
Three Pakistani youths have been sentenced to death by a local court in Iraq on charges of terrorism and robbery, propakistani.pk reported on August 5, 2024.
AUGUST 7, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: FOUR IN KARACHI GET DEATH FOR KIDNAP, MURDER & RAPE OF TWO BOYS
A Karachi anti-terrorism court (ATC) sentenced four men to death for abducting and killing two minor boys as well as for raping them and demanding ransom, Dawn reported on August 2, 2024.
AUGUST 6, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ODISHA COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE FOR GIVING BIRTH TO SECOND GIRL CHILD
A court in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar on August 1, 2024 sentenced a man to death for repeatedly stabbing his wife to death and attempting to murder his six-year-old daughter by slitting her throat two years ago.
AUGUST 3, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hossein Salehi and Morteza Seifzadeh executed in Tabriz on August 3
AUGUST 1, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES 3 PERSONS TO DEATH FOR ARMED ROBBERY, MURDER IN OSUN STATE
A watchmaker, Oludayo Oladele, an electrician, Awodeji Muyiwa, and a herb seller, Jelili Kareem on July 9, 2024 were sentenced to death for robbing and killing a corps member, Adebayo Mukaila in Osogbo, Osun State capital.
JULY 31, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: APPEALS COURT REINSTATES DEATH PENALTY FOR SIX EX-UPNM STUDENTS IN FATAL BULLYING CASE
The Court of Appeal has sent six former National Defence University of Malaysia (UPNM) cadets to the gallows for the murder of fellow cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain seven years ago, The Star reported on July 23, 2024.
JULY 31, 2024BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: PRESIDENT LUKASHENKO PARDONS GERMAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH ON TERRORISM CHARGES
Belarus’ authoritarian leader on July 30, 2024 granted a pardon to a German citizen who had been sentenced to death on terrorism charges.
JULY 31, 2024FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. White woman who wrongfully accused ‘Groveland Four’ of rape dies at 92
Norma Padget falsely accused 4 Black men of rape in 1949
JULY 30, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY
Mardan Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on July 27, 2024 convicted a man of committing blasphemy and sentenced him to death along with a fine of Rs100,000.
JULY 30, 2024IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING DHI QAR OFFICIAL
An Iraqi court in Baghdad sentenced a person to death on July 29, 2024 for killing a Dhi Qar counterterrorism official earlier this year.
JULY 25, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: DELTA COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR KILLING TWINS FOR RITUALS
A High Court sitting at Asaba, the Delta State capital, on July 16,2024 sentenced one Onuwa Ijie to death, and Nwanozie Uzor to 14 years imprisonment for murder and conspiracy to commit the murder of twin boys, Chidalu and Chigozie Agwunobi.
JULY 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kamran Sheikheh executed in Urmia on July 25
Kurdish-Sunni political prisoner
JULY 25, 2024UtahDEATH PENALTYUSA - Utah. Death sentence of Doug Lovell overturned
JULY 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 4 men and 3 women executed in Birjand on July 23
Amir Hamzeh Barahooie Mojarrad, Vahid Vahdani + 5 Unk
JULY 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Pakhshan Azizi, a political detainee, sentenced to death
JULY 22, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MOBILE SNATCHER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING KARACHI YOUTH
A sessions court in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi on July 13, 2024 sentenced a convict to death on charges of killing a youth in 2018 for resisting robbery.
JULY 22, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING ADOPTIVE PARENTS IN NILAI
A 45-year-old man was ordered to be sent to the gallows by the High Court in Seremban after he was found guilty of the double murders of his adoptive parents, The Star reported on July 4, 2024.
- JULY 22, 2024BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: GERMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 'MERCENARY ACTIVITY'
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed on July 19, 2024 that a German national has been sentenced to death in Belarus and said Berlin was in intensive contact with authorities in Minsk over his fate.
JULY 20, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men and 1 woman executed in Shiraz on July 20
Mansour Tavakoli, Hamed Shekasteh, Mohsen Ostovari, and … Mahmoudinia
JULY 20, 2024FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Judge Dawn Nichols sentenced James Guzman to death
Following the March 31 jury’s recommendation
JULY 18, 2024SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: TWO EX-SECURITY OFFICERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF STUDENT
Two former security officials on July 16, 2024 were sentenced to death in Somalia for murder of a student.