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
- JUNE 26, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Idris Áli sentenced to death
Charged with "espionage for Israel."
JUNE 21, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. David Roeder added with number 199 to the
The Death Penalty Information Center's exonerations' database
JUNE 20, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES TWO TO DEATH IN JIGAWA
The Jigawa State High Court sitting in Birnin Kudu on June 14, 2024 sentenced two persons to death for conspiring and killing Yakubu Ibrahim and dumping his dead body by the roadside.
JUNE 19, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: WOMAN AWARDED DEATH PENALTY FOR STABBING MOTHER-IN-LAW 90 TIMES
A local court in Madhya Pradesh has awarded the death sentence to a 24-year-old woman for attacking her mother-in-law with an iron pan and then striking her with a sickle ninety times, killing her instantly, in 2022.
JUNE 19, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Kerry Max Cook exonerated
198th person exonerated (since 1973) after being sentenced to death
- JUNE 18, 2024IraqDEATH PENALTY
SWEDEN SUMMONS IRAQI DIPLOMAT TO PROTEST DEATH PENALTIES REPORTEDLY HANDED TO 2 SWEDES
Sweden's Foreign Ministry said officials summoned the Iraqi chargé d’affaires on June 14, 2024 to protest against death sentences handed down to Swedes in Iraq.
JUNE 18, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 3 AWARDED CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER IN NARAIL
A court in Narail on June 12, 2024 sentenced three people to death for killing a man in Lohagara upazila of the district in 2018.
JUNE 18, 2024DelawareDEATH PENALTYUSA - Delaware. House passes bill to eliminate death penalty in Delaware
HB 70
JUNE 17, 2024KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR USING DRUGS TO OVERPOWER AND VIOLENTLY ROB VICTIMS
A man was sentenced to death on June 14, 2024 in Kenya after being found guilty of robbery with violence and using overpowering drugs to stupefy his victims.
JUNE 15, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: FOUR TO DIE BY HANGING FOR ARMED ROBBERY, MURDER IN EKITI
An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, on June 13, 2024 sentenced four persons to death by hanging for armed robbery, murder and conspiracy.
JUNE 13, 2024FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Markas Fishburne sentenced to death
30, Black
JUNE 12, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 2 BROTHERS GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPING, BURNING MINOR GIRL IN RAJASTHAN
Two men convicted of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in August last year - by burning her alive in a coal furnace - were sentenced to death on May 18, 2024 by a special court in Rajasthan's Bhilwara.
JUNE 12, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: YOUTH GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING CHILD IN CTG
A Chattogram court on June 9, 2024 sentenced a youth to death for killing a five-year-old child at Mirsari upazila in the district in 2010.
JUNE 12, 2024AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Jury recommends death sentence for Michael Collin Mitchell
43, Black
JUNE 11, 2024FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Howard Steven Ault sentenced to death, again
for the murders of two young girls
JUNE 8, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentence of Seyed Mohammad-Javad Vafaie overturned
Political prisoner
- JUNE 6, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hatem Özdemir appeals death sentence to higher Iranian court
Kurdish political prisoner belonging to the People Defense Forces
JUNE 6, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN WHO KILLED PARENTS WHILE HIGH ON DRUGS
A court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced a man to death on June 4, 2024 for murdering both of his parents during a drug-induced hallucination.
JUNE 6, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN GETS DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE, TWO CHILDREN
An antiterrorism court (ATC) in Karachi handed down death sentence on four counts to a man for murdering his wife, two minor children and a young brother-in-law over domestic issues in 2017, Dawn reported on June 1st, 2024.
JUNE 5, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: WOMAN TO DIE BY HANGING FOR MURDERING EX-HUSBAND
A High Court in Birnin Kebbi on June 3, 2024 sentenced a woman, Farida Abubakar, to death by hanging for killing her former husband, Chief Magistrate Attahiru Muhammad-Ibrahim.
JUNE 5, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MURDER CONVICT SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ATTOCK
In a landmark verdict handed down on June 3, 2024, a murder convict was sentenced to death by the Attock judiciary for his involvement in a murder case dating back to 2021.
JUNE 5, 2024SudanDEATH PENALTYSUDAN: MAN AND WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
Ed Damazin Court in Blue Nile region issued a death sentence against civil servant El Habib Eisa on June 3, 2024, after he was accused of “undermining the constitutional order.”
- JUNE 4, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: NAGPUR MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPING, MURDERING GIRL, 5, IN 2019
A man was sentenced to death on June 3, 2024 by a Nagpur court for raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl in 2019.
JUNE 4, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: FIVE GET DEATH PENALTY IN JASHORE MURDER CASE
A court in Jashore on May 20, 2024 sentenced five people to death for killing an easy-bike driver at Sadar upazila of the district in 2011.
JUNE 4, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Havel Prize Awarded to Toomaj Salehi
Dissident Iranian Rapper
JUNE 3, 2024YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: HOUTHIS SENTENCE 44 TO DEATH ON CHARGES OF COLLABORATION WITH A SAUDI-LED COALITION
A court run by Yemen's Houthi rebels on June 1st, 2024 sentenced 44 people to death, including a businessman working with aid groups, on spying charges, a defense lawyer said.
JUNE 1, 2024IdahoDEATH PENALTYUSA - Idaho. Chad Daybell, 55, White, sentenced to death on June 1
- MAY 30, 2024ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. US Supreme Court reinstates death penalty for Danny Lee Jones
MAY 30, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: JAPANESE HAS DEATH SENTENCE REDUCED TO 30-YEAR PRISON TERM
Malaysia's top court commuted the death sentence imposed on a Japanese woman for drug trafficking to 30 years in prison on May 29, 2024, following a judicial reform that eliminated mandatory capital punishment for illicit drug trade and several other seri
MAY 29, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: FORMER CHINA HUARONG INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LIMITED GENERAL MANAGER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TAKING BRIBES
Bai Tianhui, former general manager of China Huarong International Holdings Limited, was sentenced to death for taking huge amounts of bribes by a court in Tianjin on May 28, 2024.