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 2, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 7 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN HABIGANJ MURDER CASE
A court in Habiganj has sentenced seven people to death and 10 others to life imprisonment on the charge of killing a man at Sadar upazila in 2003.
MAY 2, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH IN FAMILY MURDER CASE
Rawalpindi Additional District and Sessions Judge Raja Faisal Rasheed on April 30, 2024 delivered the verdict in the murder case involving nine women and young girls from the same family residing in the limits of Chauntra police station.
MAY 1, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Anwar Khezri Executed in Karaj on May 1
A Kurdish religious prisoner
APRIL 30, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN WHO FATALLY STABBED WIFE DURING DIVORCE COOLING-OFF SENTENCED TO DEATH
A man who killed his wife during their divorce cooling-off period was given a death penalty in the first trial by a court in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province on April 25, 2024.
APRIL 29, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ‘MQM WORKER’ SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FOUR POLICEMEN IN KARACHI’S KORANGI
An antiterrorism court (ATC) in Karachi on April 24, 2024 sentenced a man, said to be associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, to death for killing four policemen in a targeted attack in a Korangi area in 2015.
APRIL 29, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 5 men executed in Isfahan on April 29
Behnam Khakpour, Payam Farazandeh, Majid Gorgipour, Delagha Habib and Reza Shahsavandi
APRIL 27, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Call for Urgent Action to Save Reza Rasaei and Habib Deris
2 Political Prisoners Facing Execution
APRIL 25, 2024FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Death penalty for Patrick McDowell, 27, White
APRIL 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Toomaj Salehi, a protest rapper, sentenced to death
APRIL 24, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF HIS NIECE IN NATORE
A tribunal has sentenced a man to death over the rape and murder of his niece, a student in 12th grade, in Natore’s Singra Upazila.
APRIL 24, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: STUDENT SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER ‘BLASPHEMOUS’ WHATSAPP MESSAGES
A court in Pakistan has sentenced a 22-year-old student to death on charges of blasphemy over Whatsapp messages, BBC reported on April 8, 2024.
APRIL 24, 2024TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Paige Lawyer, 44, Black, sentenced to death
- APRIL 23, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Iranian Rapper's Death Sentence Changed To 5 Years In Prison
Kurdish dissident rapper Saman Yasin was arrested during nationwide protests in 2022
APRIL 23, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: TWO GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING TRIO IN CTG
A Chattogram court on April 18, 2024 awarded death penalty to two men for killing three members of a family in city's Biyazid Bostami Thana area 19 years ago.
APRIL 23, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: OSUN COURT SENTENCES TWO SERIAL ROBBERS TO DEATH BY HANGING
An Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo, on April 18, 2024 sentenced Wasiu Afolayan (36) and Kola Adeyemi (34), to death by hanging for offences bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.
APRIL 23, 2024OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Attorney General Gentner Drummond asks to halt the execution of Richard Glossip
APRIL 22, 2024IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: TWO ISIS-LINKED INDIVIDUALS SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Central Criminal Court under the Iraqi Judiciary Council on April 22, 2024 handed a death sentence to two individuals linked to ISIS.
APRIL 22, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: LUDHIANA WOMAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR BURYING TODDLER ALIVE
Ludhiana resident Neelam Kaur, 38, was on April 18, 2024 sentenced to death for burying alive Dilroz Kaur, the two-and-a-half-year-old daughter of her neighbour, Harpreet Singh, who is a police constable, after an argument with his family three years ago.
- APRIL 21, 2024ZimbabweDEATH PENALTY
ZIMBABWE FREES PRISONERS, INCLUDING THOSE SENTENCED TO DEATH, IN AN INDEPENDENCE DAY AMNESTY
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted clemency to more than 4,000 prisoners, including some who were on death row, in an independence day amnesty on April 18, 2024.
APRIL 18, 2024MoroccoDEATH PENALTYMOROCCO: MAIN PERPETRATOR IN HIT-AND-RUN MURDER OF UNIVERSITY STUDENT RECEIVES DEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Casablanca delivered its verdict on April 16, 2024 in the case of the hit-and-run murder of university student Badr.
APRIL 17, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: DEATH-ROW INMATES' LAWSUIT TARGETING SAME-DAY NOTIFICATIONS OF EXECUTIONS DISMISSED
The Osaka District Court on April 15, 2024 dismissed a lawsuit by death row inmates that claimed same-day notifications of executions violate the Constitution — the first ruling of its kind.
APRIL 16, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: CHINESE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HIS GIRLFRIEND
A Nigerian court on March 26, 2024 sentenced a Chinese national to death after finding him guilty of killing his girlfriend, a government official told The Associated Press, vowing to recommend execution if he unsuccessfully appeals the ruling.
APRIL 16, 2024AustraliaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Binding Assurances that Julian Assange Will Not Face the Death Penalty
APRIL 16, 2024AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Jeremy Williams, 40, Black, sentenced to death
- APRIL 15, 2024IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: 6 DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on April 14, 2024 issued death sentences to six drug dealers, including three foreigners.
- APRIL 15, 2024Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DRC: DEATH PENALTY FOR AN ARMY SERGEANT-MAJOR AFTER THE MURDER OF A PREGNANT WOMAN IN GOMA
A soldier from the army, Sergeant Major Serugo Buhera, on April 6, 2024 was sentenced to death for shooting and killing a pregnant woman, at the end of a summary trial at the military garrison tribunal of Goma, in the North Kivu province.
- APRIL 14, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING RIVERS VIGILANTE COMMANDER
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, on March 18, 2024, convicted and sentenced five people to death by hanging for the murder of Umezuruike Alex, the commander of a local vigilante codenamed OSPAC (Onelga Security Peace and Advisory Commit
APRIL 11, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING UNCLE
A Bajaur court on April 5, 2024 convicted a man of killing his uncle and awarded him death sentence and a fine of Rs1 million.
APRIL 11, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM SENTENCES REAL ESTATE TYCOON TRUONG MY LAN TO DEATH IN ITS LARGEST-EVER FRAUD CASE
Real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced on April 11, 2024 to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam in the country’s largest financial fraud case ever.
APRIL 10, 2024CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Caligornioa. NGOs fight ‘racially discriminatory’ death penalty in California Supreme Court