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 30, 2006PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. 2 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH
the Anti Terrorist Court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, sentenced to death Abdul Rehman alias Shah Ji for killing a man who showed resistance to a robbery attempt.
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2006IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH PENALTY TO THREE MEMBERS OF KALBAILAIYA GANG
a court in India sentenced to death three members of the ‘Kalbailaiya’ gang for murder.
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. ORGAN SALES 'THRIVING', BBC NEWS REPORT
the sale of organs taken from executed prisoners appears to be thriving in China, an undercover investigation by the BBC found.
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GANG LEADER RECEIVES DEATH SENTENCE
Xiong Xinxing was sentenced to death for charges including heading an underground organization and causing the death of a man in Jiujiang in Central China's Jiangxi Province.
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2006PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS MUSHARRAF PLOT DEATH SENTENCES
Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld the death sentences handed down to 12 men convicted of taking part in two al Qaeda inspired assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003.
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2006JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ROBBING, KILLING TWO IN KUMAMOTO PREF.
the Kumamoto District Court sentenced Yukinori Matsuda to death for robbing and killing two people in Kumamoto Prefecture in 2003. Matsuda, 33, stabbed Keiko Kinoshita...
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2006FloridaDEATH PENALTY
a jury recommended the death sentence for Leo Perry.
a jury recommended the death sentence for Leo Perry.
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2006IraqDEATH PENALTY
JORDAN. FAILED FEMALE BOMBER AND SIX OTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
a Jordanian military court sentenced a failed female suicide bomber and six others to death for planning attacks which killed 60 people in Amman in 2005.
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO MEN EXECUTED FOR KILLING SEVEN WITH POISON GAS IN ROBBERY
two men were executed for killing seven people, including two accomplices, with poison gas in a robbery in east China's Jiangxi Province.
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2006South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH KOREA. DEATH PENALTY IMPOSED ON MAN WHO KILLED 13
convicted serial killer Chung Nam-kyu was sentenced to death by a district court in Seoul, South Korea.
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2006IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ. TWO IRAQI’S SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR FOILED ATTACKS ON S. KOREAN MILITARY
two Iraqi’s who attempted to bomb the South Korean military facilities in Iraq were sentenced to death.
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2006MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. GRANDFATHER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
the High Court sentenced 62-year-old grandfather Lau Yew Kwan to death for bringing into Malaysia from Paris 2,144.8gm of MDMA.
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. NINE PERSONS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BRAHMANBARIA AND KISHOREGANJ
eight men were sentenced to death in Chittagong, Bangladesh, for a triple murder committed in Brahmanbaria on August 10, 2005.
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2006MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CANNABIS TRAFFICKING
a 31-year-old man was sentenced to death by a High Court in Kuala Lumpur...
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SEVEN GANGSTERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER, RACKETEERING
chinese courts have sentenced seven gangsters to death in two separate cases in the country's northwestern Gansu Province and eastern Anhui Province, according to the Supreme People's Court (SPC).
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2006Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO. THREE SOLDIERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
the military court sitting in Bukavu, DRC, sentenced three soldiers to capital punishment.
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2006JordanDEATH PENALTY
JORDAN. THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR PLANNING TERRORIST ATTACKS
three militants were sentenced to death and a fourth was sentenced...
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH PENALTY FOR LARGEST HEROIN CASE SINCE 1949
Guangdong High People's Court, China, recently ruled on a smuggling case involving approximately 380 kilograms of heroin...
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. SUPREME COURT AGAIN UPHOLDS CONVICTED WOMAN'S DEATH SENTENCE
Shahla Jahed, 36, was once again facing imminent execution, after the Supreme Court reportedly upheld her death sentence for the second time.
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2006GuineaDEATH PENALTY
GUINEA. NINE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING POLITICIAN
it was reported that a court in Guinea sentenced nine people to death for the murder of a local politician in the capital Conakry.
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2006South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH KOREA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF WIFE, 3 SONS
the Supreme Court of South Korea sentenced to death a man for the murder of his wife and three sons.
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2006TexasDEATH PENALTY
a Medina County jury has sentenced to death a man convicted...
a Medina County jury has sentenced to death a man convicted...
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2006JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. TOP COURT REJECTS APPEAL OF MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
Japan’s Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by a man who was sentenced to death for killing a couple in a robbery-murder case in 1997 in Osaka.
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2006AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. DEATH SENTENCE FOR FOUR OF ‘BALI NINE’
Indonesia's Supreme Court has increased the sentences for four Australians convicted of drug smuggling in Bali to the death penalty, officials said.
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING HER HUSBAND IN THE US
a Shanghai court sentenced 29-year-old Danlei Chen to death with a two-year reprieve for murdering her husband and hiding his dismembered body in the trunk of a car.
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2006RwandaDEATH PENALTY
RWANDA. PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON ABOLISHING DEATH PENALTY
Rwanda will pass a law ending capital punishment by December 2006 to encourage European countries to extradite suspected masterminds of the genocide that occurred in the country in 1994. Unless the country abolishes capital punishment, it will not be ab
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING WOMEN
a court in Jessore, Bangladesh, sentenced Moslemuddin Molla, 45, to death in absentia for people trafficking.
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2006PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. COURT CONVICTS SHIITE MILITANT
a Pakistan court convicted and sentenced to death a Shiite Muslim militant of organizing the bombing of a Sunni gathering that killed 39 people in 2004.
- AUGUST 31, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. SIX AWARDED DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDER OF COUPLE
a court in Moulvibazar, Bangladesh...
- AUGUST 30, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. SIX MEN TO WALK GALLOWS FOR MURDER
six men were sentenced to death for murder by a Speedy Trial Tribunal in Barisal, Bangladesh.