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
- JULY 12, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. FIVE MEN TO HANG FOR MURDER OF SCHOOLGIRL WHO REJECTED MARRIAGE OFFER
suitor Imarul, who uses one name, and four other men were sentenced to hang after being convicted of killing a 14 year old girl whose family spurned his offer of marriage. After the family accepted an offer from another man, Imarul and his accomplices bro
- JULY 10, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BAHRAIN. TWO BANGLADESHI NATIONALS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
two people were sentenced to death for the murder of a Bahraini housewife, Latifa Abdulla Abdulaziz.
- JULY 8, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SEVEN PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN JIANGSU FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
seven people were sentenced to death and another to death with reprieve by the Wuxi Municipal Intermediate People's Court in east China's Jiangsu Province following what police described as the largest drug trafficking case cracked in the province.
- JULY 7, 2005PakistanDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. COURT SENTENCES TWO PAKISTANIS TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING HEROIN
a lower court in Dhaka sentenced to death two Pakistani nationals, Rais Khan of Karachi and Alekjan of Peshwar after finding them guilty of smuggling 24 kg of heroin into the country on September 20, 1999.
- JULY 7, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTY
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
the District and Sessions Court in Chitradurga, sentenced to death Siddaruda, 30, after convicting him of brutally murdering an engineer of the Zilla Panchayat sub-division.
- JULY 5, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. FIVE PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
a Speedy Trial Tribunal in Natore, Bangladesh, sentenced five men to death by hanging in the Maju murder case.
- JULY 4, 2005AlgeriaDEATH PENALTY
ALGERIA. 7 FUGITIVES SENTENCED TO DEATH
an Algerian criminal court sentenced to death in absentia seven Islamic gunmen belonging to the radical Salafi Movement for Daawa and Fighting.
- JULY 2, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. DHAKA PLANS SPECIAL JAIL FOR DEATH ROW PRISONERS
it was reported that Bangladesh was planning a special jail for prisoners on the death row.
- JULY 2, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
Yu Hu, female, was sentenced to a provisional death penalty in Beijing, charged with embezzling more than 16 million yuan (US$2 million) from more than 180 people.
- JULY 1, 2005FloridaDEATH PENALTY
following a jury's recommendation, Circuit Judge Susan Robert sentenced Thomas Davis Woodel...
following a jury's recommendation, Circuit Judge Susan Robert sentenced Thomas Davis Woodel...
- JULY 1, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
a court in Bhola, Bangladesh, sentenced Nazrul Islam to death for killing his wife.
- JUNE 30, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. 13 PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CROSS COUNTRY BORDER DRUGS CASE
a court in southeastern China sentenced to death 13 convicted drug traffickers in what was being called the country's biggest case of cross-border drug trade involving "ice," state press said.
- JUNE 30, 2005DEATH PENALTY
Delores Rivers, the 1st woman to be placed on Pennsylvania's death row...
Delores Rivers, the 1st woman to be placed on Pennsylvania's death row...
- JUNE 29, 2005CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
in Fresno, a jury recommends that Marcus Wesson...
in Fresno, a jury recommends that Marcus Wesson, the domineering patriarch of a large clan he bred through incest, should get the death penalty for the murders of 9 of his children.
- JUNE 28, 2005BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS. GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH
the Vitsebsk Region court, Belarus, made public the sentences handed down to four members of a gang which operated in Polatsk.
- JUNE 28, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. GUANGDONG COURT SENTENCES BURMESE NATIONAL TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
in its initial trial, the Jiangmen Intermediate People's Court, China, sentenced Burmese national Zhao Qiaohua to death for heroin trafficking.
- JUNE 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN EXECUTED FOR ORGANISING DRUG RING
China executed Wu Xiaohui, 24, a key woman drug trafficker who had left a gruesome tale of smuggling and murders, the 'China Daily' reported.
- JUNE 24, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
Teheran's criminal court sentenced a woman and a young man...
Teheran's criminal court sentenced a woman and a young man who together had killed the women's elderly husband, to death
- JUNE 22, 2005PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
THE PHILIPPINES. COURT SENTENCES SEVEN MILITANTS TO DEATH
a Philippine court sentenced to death seven suspected members of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militant group for the kidnapping and murder of farmers on the southern island of Basilan in 2001.
- JUNE 22, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING BOY
an Additional District and Sessions court in Jamalpur, Bangladesh, convicted Abdullah Al Mamun and sentenced him to death for killing a minor boy.
- JUNE 22, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Liu Congbao a gang leader from Guangdong, China...
Liu Congbao a gang leader from Guangdong, China...
- JUNE 21, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
the People's Court in the northern province of Hoa Binh has sentenced four people involved in the largest drug trafficking ring in the province to death.
- JUNE 21, 2005IowaDEATH PENALTY
Angela Johnson should be put to death for her role in the drug-related slayings of five people in 1993...
Angela Johnson should be put to death for her role in the drug-related slayings of five people in 1993, a jury recommended. Judge Mark Bennett read the verdicts
- JUNE 21, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. MAN SENTNCED TO DEATH IN A DOUBLE MURDER CASE IN CHITTAGONG
M. Saleh Noor, 40, was condemned to death by an Additional Sessions court in Chittagong, Bangladesh, for killing his wife and their four-month-old daughter.
- JUNE 20, 2005PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
UNITED STATES. SUPREME COURT TOSSES DEATH SENTENCE
the US Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Ronald Rompilla, a Pennsylvania man on death row for a 1988 murder, ruling that his lawyers had failed to properly represent him.
- JUNE 20, 2005TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. TAIWANESE NATIONAL SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
Chen Kun Sung, a Taiwanese national was sentenced to death for killing his wife. It was alleged that Chen, 69, used a hammer and a knife to kill his 28-year-old Vietnamese wife after he became jealous while listening to her talking on the telephone with a
- JUNE 17, 2005OhioDEATH PENALTY
a jury in Cleveland recommended the death sentence for Delano Hale Jr
a jury in Cleveland recommended the death sentence for Delano Hale Jr
- JUNE 16, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MUNSHIGANJ
a man by the name of Sobhan was sentenced to death and five others were sentenced to life imprisonment by a District and Sessions court in Munshiganj, Bangladesh, after being convicted of murder
- JUNE 16, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR GAMBLING AWAY STATE ASSETS
it was reported that Xu Shuirong, former manager of the sales department of Yuhang District Communications Real Estate Co, China, was sentenced to death and deprived of all political rights for life after being convicted of illigally obtaining 4m yuan of
- JUNE 15, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. INDIAN WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING
a Bangladesh court has sentenced an Indian woman to death for attempting to traffic a four-year-old boy out of the country, a court official said.