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
- FEBRUARY 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Mohammad Khezrnejad sentenced to death
A Kurdish political prisoner
FEBRUARY 10, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Shahab Nadali, a political prisoner, sentenced to death
FEBRUARY 9, 2024CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Jose Larin-Garcia sentenced to death
FEBRUARY 9, 2024AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Jury sentenced Marco Perez to death
FEBRUARY 8, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN WHO STABBED COLLEAGUE TO DEATH WHILE DRUNK EXECUTED
Zhang Keping, who stabbed a colleague to death while drunk in 2022, was executed on February 4, 2024 after China's top court approved his death sentence.
FEBRUARY 7, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH REPRIEVE OVER HOMICIDE
Jiang Wenhua, a former researcher at Fudan University, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on February 1, 2024 for intentional homicide.
FEBRUARY 6, 2024YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: 13 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HOMOSEXUALITY
A Huthi-run court in Yemen has sentenced 13 people to public execution on homosexuality charges, a judicial source said on February 2, 2024
FEBRUARY 6, 2024MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: 5 ON DEATH ROW IN SABAH SPARED THE GALLOWS
Five prisoners on death row in Sabah on February 5, 2024 saw their capital punishment substituted to imprisonment by the Federal Court.
FEBRUARY 6, 2024FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Marcelle Waldon, 39, Black, sentenced to death
FEBRUARY 5, 2024ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: AUSTRALIAN WRITER YANG HENGJUN SENTENCED TO DEATH ON SPY CHARGES
Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who was arrested in China on espionage charges in 2019, on February 5, 2024 was handed a suspended death sentence by a court in Beijing.
FEBRUARY 5, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN TO BE HANGED FOR KILLING WIFE 13YRS AGO IN NATORE
A Natore court on January 12, 2024 sentenced a man to death for killing his wife in Singra Upazila of the district 13 years ago.
- JANUARY 31, 2024NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR ARMED ROBBERY
Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of a Special Offences Court, Ikeja, on January 31, 2024 convicted and sentenced a man, Emmanuel Iwuno, to death by hanging for armed robbery.
JANUARY 31, 2024FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Jury recommends death penalty for Bessman Okafor, 39, Black.
JANUARY 30, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: DEATH PENALTY FOR 15 MEMBERS OF BANNED PFI FOR KERALA BJP LEADER'S MURDER
A Kerala court on January 30, 2024 sentenced to death 15 persons associated with the now-banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party OBC wing leader Ranjith Sreenivasan.
JANUARY 30, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HYDERABAD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
A court in Hyderabad on January 18, 2024 sentenced a man to death for murdering his wife.
JANUARY 30, 2024Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BOAT HIJACK CASE
The Colombo High Court on January 24, 2024 sentenced to death seven accused who were found guilty of allegedly forcibly hijacking a fishing boat in an attempt to flee to Australia illegally...
JANUARY 29, 2024IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: TWO GET DEATH PENALTY FOR 2005 SHRAMJIVI EXPRESS TRAIN BLAST
A district court in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur town on January 3, 2024 sentenced to death two men, including one from Bangladesh, for carrying out the Shramjivi Express train blast in 2005 that left at least 14 people dead and 62 injured.
JANUARY 29, 2024Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTYMYANMAR: ARMY DENIES THAT GENERALS WERE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SURRENDERING KEY CITY TO INSURGENTS
Myanmar’s military government is denying reports that it sentenced six army generals to death or life imprisonment for their surrender this month of a regional military command headquarters on the border with China to an alliance of ethnic armed groups, A
- JANUARY 25, 2024IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 Kurdish prisoners of conscience at imminent risk of execution
Anvar Khezri, Kamran Sheikheh and Khosrow Besharat
JANUARY 25, 2024JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING 36 IN ANIME STUDIO ARSON
A Japanese man was convicted and sentenced to death on January 25, 2024 for the arson and killing of 36 people at famed anime studio Kyoto Animation in 2019, public broadcaster NHK said.
JANUARY 25, 2024GhanaDEATH PENALTYGHANA: SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2021 COUP PLOT
A Ghana court on January 24, 2024 sentenced six people to death by hanging, including three soldiers, for their involvement in an alleged plot three years ago to overthrow the country's government.
- JANUARY 24, 2024Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
MYANMAR: DEFEATED JUNTA GENERALS GIVEN DEATH SENTENCES
Myanmar’s regime on January 20, 2024 handed death sentences to three brigadier generals who surrendered to the Brotherhood Alliance at Laukkai in northern Shan State.
JANUARY 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ali Obidavi sentenced to death
A political prisoner
JANUARY 24, 2024IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Judge Salavati: The Ruthless Enforcer of Iran’s Medieval Legal Decrees
- JANUARY 23, 2024United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Alabama. Dissent rises against looming ‘experimental’ execution of Kenneth Smith
JANUARY 23, 2024PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: DRUG DEALER GETS DEATH PENALTY
Additional District and Sessions Judge (ASJ) Muhammad Tahir Aslam awarded death penalty and imposed Rs100,000 on a drug dealer in Muzaffargarh on January 15, 2024.
JANUARY 23, 2024VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: COURT SENTENCES 9 PEOPLE TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A court in Vietnam on January 22, 2024 sentenced nine people to death after being convicted of involvement in one of the country's largest drug trafficking cases in months, state media reported.
JANUARY 23, 2024AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Kenneth Smith’s lawyers ask U.S. Supreme Court whether state can try twice to execute him
- JANUARY 22, 2024BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 5 GET DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING WOMAN AFTER RAPE IN SHARIATPUR
A court sentenced five persons to death in Bangladesh for killing a woman after gang-raping her in Damudya upazila of Shariatpur in 2019.
JANUARY 22, 2024OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Richard Glossip’s Appeal