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
- OCTOBER 4, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A Vietnamese man was sentenced to death for raping...
A Vietnamese man was sentenced to death for raping and killing a woman in her home
- OCTOBER 3, 2004Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
Kenrick London and his wife Chandroutie, who were convicted...
Kenrick London and his wife Chandroutie, who were convicted of the murder of Chandroutie's sister Meena Sookoo, in Trinidad and Tobago, had their sentences of death by hanging commuted to life imprisonment by the Court of Appeal
- OCTOBER 3, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Legal experts urged the Indonesian government to impose...
Legal experts urged the Indonesian government to impose a deadline for the execution of convicts sentenced to death to avoid double punishment
- OCTOBER 2, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A man in northern Vietnam was sentenced to death by...
A man in northern Vietnam was sentenced to death by firing squad and three others received life terms in jail as courts enforced a zero tolerance approach to illegal narcotics
- OCTOBER 2, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Two Iranians were sentenced to death for smuggling...
Two Iranians were sentenced to death for smuggling thousands of antiques to the US, Europe and Asia, state-run Tehran radio reported
- OCTOBER 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China cracked a 36-member gang that kidnapped and sold...
China cracked a 36-member gang that kidnapped and sold 96 women and children over a dozen years, sentencing two to death and handing the others at least two years' jail time
- OCTOBER 1, 2004JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
the Jamaica government said it wanted legislators to debate the issue of the death penalty
the Jamaica government said it wanted legislators to debate the issue of the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2004IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A sessions court in India awarded capital punishment...
A sessions court in India awarded capital punishment to a person for killing a farmer to acquire his property and also sentenced three builders to life imprisonment for participating in the conspiracy
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2004MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A lorry driver was sentenced to death by the High Court...
A lorry driver was sentenced to death by the High Court in Bernama, Malaysia, for trafficking in 874
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has sentenced to death a contract killer known...
China has sentenced to death a contract killer known as Hitman number one who murdered nine people, including a friend whose head and hands he boiled after cutting up the body, Xinhua news agency said
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
The two Thai nationals sentenced to death for drug...
The two Thai nationals sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Medan, North Sumatra, presented their last requests, as they were due to be executed, their lawyers said
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2004ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The two Thai nationals sentenced to death for drug...
The two Thai nationals sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Medan, North Sumatra, presented their last requests, as they were due to be executed, their lawyers said
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A 27-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to death...
A 27-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to death in Vietnam for murdering his girlfriend following a succession of quarrels
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
a court in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, sentenced six men to death
a court in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, sentenced six men to death
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2004TennesseeDEATH PENALTY
the Tennessee Supreme Court has reinstated a death sentence against a man
the Tennessee Supreme Court has reinstated a death sentence against a man
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2004JapanDEATH PENALTY
A Japanese court sentenced to death Yoshida, a 45-year-old...
A Japanese court sentenced to death Yoshida, a 45-year-old former nurse, for masterminding a plot with fellow nurses to murder their husbands for insurance money
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2004Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
Myanmar's Supreme Court made the unprecedented decision...
Myanmar's Supreme Court made the unprecedented decision to allow appeals by eight people originally sentenced to death in a controversial high treason case, a defence lawyer said
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2004AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Australian Government rejected claims it would...
The Australian Government rejected claims it would extradite terror suspects to the US where they could face the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2004JapanDEATH PENALTY
Toshio Hosoya was sentenced to death at the Akita District...
Toshio Hosoya was sentenced to death at the Akita District Court in Japan for killing his wife and her mother to obtain insurance money
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ly Thi Ai was sentenced to death after it was discovered...
Ly Thi Ai was sentenced to death after it was discovered that she had lied about her son's age at her trial in order to escape the death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped...
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped up a campaign to save 10 people on death row in Indonesia
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Pabna, Bangladesh, sentenced to death Faraz...
A court in Pabna, Bangladesh, sentenced to death Faraz Ali of Ilshimari village in Iswardi after convicting him of killing his wife
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004ThailandDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped...
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped up a campaign to save 10 people on death row in Indonesia
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped...
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped up a campaign to save 10 people on death row in Indonesia
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Sabuj, 28, and Habib were sentenced to death in Bangladesh,...
Sabuj, 28, and Habib were sentenced to death in Bangladesh, the latter in absentia, after being convicted of shooting down a neighbour out of enmity at Azampur, Uttara
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004NepalDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped...
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped up a campaign to save 10 people on death row in Indonesia
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004MalawiDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped...
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped up a campaign to save 10 people on death row in Indonesia
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped...
It was reported that Amnesty International had stepped up a campaign to save 10 people on death row in Indonesia
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2004ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai appeals court upheld an August 2002 Criminal...
The Thai appeals court upheld an August 2002 Criminal Court decision to sentence Maj
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2004NepalDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tibet sentenced two Nepalese to death, close...
A court in Tibet sentenced two Nepalese to death, close on the heels of an outcry in Nepal over the same punishment awarded to two more Nepalese in an earlier case