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 11, 2006MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. 34,000 PEOPLE SIGN PETITION AGAINST TOOK LENG HOW'S DEATH SENTENCE
the fate of convicted murderer Took Leng How will be known within three months, as a last-ditch effort to spare him from the gallows reaches the President. Some 34,000 people have signed a petition against Took's death sentence, due to be submitted to Pre
- MAY 11, 2006MissouriDEATH PENALTY
a Pettis County jury recommended a death sentence for Ernest Lee Johnson...
a Pettis County jury recommended a death sentence for Ernest Lee Johnson, the man convicted of killing 3 employees during a botched robbery on Feb. 12, 1994. The victims were Mable Scruggs, 57, Fred Jones, 58 and Mary Bratcher, 46.
- MAY 10, 2006Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. TWO INDIANS TO BE BEHEADED
an Islamic court in Saudi Arabia has awarded capital punishment to two Indians for smuggling narcotics into the kingdom about two-and-a-half years ago, reports reaching from Damam said.
- MAY 10, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. FIVE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER
a Special Tribunal in Bogra, Bangladesh, sentenced five people to death for rape and murder.
- MAY 10, 2006PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. LAHORE “BRICK KILLER” SENTENCED TO DEATH
an anti-terrorism court in the Pakistani city of Lahore sentenced to death Aamir Qayum, an alleged serial killer convicted of murder.
- MAY 6, 2006IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. DEATH SENTENCE FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE
a district and sessions court in Sagar, India, sentenced to death Mahesh Kurmi...
- MAY 5, 2006MissouriDEATH PENALTY
Gary Black was sentenced to death for the 2nd time.
Gary Black was sentenced to death for the 2nd time.
- MAY 3, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN’S DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER APPROVED
it was reported that the death sentence for a “young man”, Qarib Rahman, has been approved by the Iranian mullahs' judiciary putting him on the verge of execution.
- MAY 3, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. JUVENILE SENTENCED TO DEATH
Iran’s Etemad state daily reported that a 17-year-old boy from the central city of Isfahan was sentenced to death.
- MAY 2, 2006KazakhstanDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. THREE UYGHURS FACE EXECUTION IF EXTRADITED
it was reported that human rights groups fear that three Uyghurs might face torture and even death if extradited to China.
- APRIL 28, 2006Equatorial GuineaDEATH PENALTY
EQUATORIAL GUINEA. MAN SHOT IN PRISON FOR MURDER
a judicial source stated that the previous week saw a man sentenced to death for murder executed by firing squad in Equatorial Guinea.
- APRIL 27, 2006South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
SOUTH KOREA. SERIAL RAPIST SENTENCED TO DEATH
the Cheongju District Court, South Korea, sentenced to death a 30-year old man identified by his surname Yang, convicted of who committed 37 sexual assaults across the country between November 2004 and February 2006.
- APRIL 27, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TRIO GET DEATH FOR KILLING 9 PROSTITUTES
a Chinese court has sentenced three men to death for robbing, raping and killing nine women, most of whom were prostitutes, and then skinning one of them.
- APRIL 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. DEATH FOR TRIO IN ROBBERY KILLINGS
three men were sentenced to death in the gassing death of seven people at an underground gambling den during a lethal robbery in Ruichang, eastern China's Jiangxi Province
- APRIL 26, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF POLICE OFFICER
a policeman from Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi Province...
- APRIL 26, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. 23-YEAR-OLD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TEHRAN
a 23 year old man identified only by his first name, Abolqasem, was sentenced to death in Tehran
- APRIL 26, 2006Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DRC. MINORS SIT ON DEATH ROW
among the inmates languishing in prisons throughout the DRC are at least ten children, some as young as 15 years old, condemned to death and waiting to be executed, according to a September 2005 letter from the United Nations to the Congolese government.
- APRIL 26, 2006PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES. 3 COUSINS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING
three cousins were sentenced to die by lethal injection for abducting a Japanese national in Lanuza town, the Philippines.
- APRIL 26, 2006SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR WIFE'S MURDER
a man was sentenced to death in Singapore for the murder of his wife after he suspected her of having extra-marital affairs. Khrishnasamy Naidu, 43, was found guilty of slashing Chitrabathy Narayanasamy, 39, to death at a Sony factory in May 2004.
- APRIL 24, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. VAULT GUARD GETS DEATH SENTENCE
a Hunan Province court, China, sentenced former vault guard Hu Guiding to death for stealing more than 5.5 million yuan (US$ 686,042) from his employer in Pingjiang County.
- APRIL 21, 2006IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER BOMBING OF UN HEADQUARTERS
an Iraqi court tried and sentenced to death a man allegedly linked to Al Qaeda who confessed to the 2003 truck-bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.
- APRIL 20, 2006IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING
the Baghdad Central Criminal Court issued a death sentence against a man convicted of kidnapping, the state- funded Al Sabah newspaper reported.
- APRIL 20, 2006BahamasDEATH PENALTY
THE BAHAMAS. DEATH PENALTY HANDED DOWN IN HISTORIC SENTENCING
in an historic judgement, Senior Justice Anita Allen sentenced convicted murderer Maxo Tido to death for the 2002 murder of 16-year-old Donnell Connover.
- APRIL 19, 2006United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. CHINA “SELLING PRISONERS' ORGANS”, BRITISH TRANSPLANTATION SOCIETY
top British transplant surgeons accused China of harvesting the organs of thousands of executed prisoners a year to sell for transplants.
- APRIL 19, 2006PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
an Additional District and Sessions Court in Sialkot, Pakistan, sentenced to death Muhammad Fazil with a fine of Rs. 100,000 (1,350 EU) after finding him guilty of murdering two people.
- APRIL 18, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
a court in Patuakhali, Bangladesh, convicted Jahangir Shikder, 35, of Hajikhali village, Sadar, and sentenced him to death for killing his wife.
- APRIL 18, 2006PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES. MANILA COURT SENTENCED FOUR MEN TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING
a court in Manila, the Philippines, sentenced to death four men after finding them guilty of abducting Jocelyn Sy, who was blindfolded and kept for three days in a suburban house in 1997 before her husband paid a ransom for her release.
- APRIL 17, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH OVER DRUGS
the People's Court in the central Nghe An Province, Vietnam, sentenced to death Tran Van Hoi for trading and trafficking heroin from Laos to Vietnam.
- APRIL 16, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. ‘YOUNG MAN’ SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TEHRAN
a young Iranian man was sentenced to death in Tehran according to the state-run news agency, Fars.
- APRIL 12, 2006AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN KANDAHAR FOR ABDUCTION AND MURDER
a court in Afghanistan awarded capital punishment to three people convicted of abducting and later killing a child in the southern province of Kandahar. Abdul Shakoor, 20, hailing from Farha, Baryalai Almas, 19, from Parwan and Musa Khan, 19, from Kunar w