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
- JUNE 29, 2004ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
Zambia has released 14 coup-plotters from prison after...
Zambia has released 14 coup-plotters from prison after President Levy Mwanawasa commuted their death sentences to various prison terms earlier this year, a statement said
- JUNE 28, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said she...
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri said she would not pardon any convicted drug traffickers on death row
- JUNE 28, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
a man was sentenced to death
a man was sentenced to death
- JUNE 27, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
a young man 22 years old named Aziz was sentenced to death
a young man 22 years old named Aziz was sentenced to death
- JUNE 26, 2004Hong Kong SAR ChinaDEATH PENALTY
10 convicted drug traffickers were executed in China...
10 convicted drug traffickers were executed in China as the country marked international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking
- JUNE 25, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Dozens of drug dealers were sentenced to death in a...
Dozens of drug dealers were sentenced to death in a series of drug-related criminal cases across China as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking drew near
- JUNE 24, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Indonesia sentenced Gunawan Santoso to death...
A court in Indonesia sentenced Gunawan Santoso to death for hiring four members of the marines to kill a prominent businessman
- JUNE 24, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three drug traffickers were executed in Wuhan, capital...
Three drug traffickers were executed in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province
- JUNE 24, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
three men named Xiao Tianhua, Xiao Zige and Cai Xiudong were executed
three men named Xiao Tianhua, Xiao Zige and Cai Xiudong were executed
- JUNE 24, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
a man named Hafiz Najeebullah Khan was hanged
a man named Hafiz Najeebullah Khan was hanged
- JUNE 23, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ho Son, a 36-year-old man, was sentenced to death by...
Ho Son, a 36-year-old man, was sentenced to death by Ho Chi Minh City People's Court in Vietnam for murdering a man, Tran Van Hung, in April 2002 and stealing his motorbike while in a drunken state
- JUNE 21, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
a prisoner in the city of Tabriz was sentenced to public execution
a prisoner in the city of Tabriz was sentenced to public execution
- JUNE 20, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A man named Bipul was sentenced to death in absentia...
A man named Bipul was sentenced to death in absentia by a Speedy trial Tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for the murder of a neighbour in Kotiadi, Kishoreganj
- JUNE 20, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could face the...
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could face the death penalty if he is convicted of war crimes, the head of the Iraqi tribunal due to try him said
- JUNE 20, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Indonesian authorities may soon begin the execution...
Indonesian authorities may soon begin the execution of the many drug offenders currently on death row, National Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar said
- JUNE 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Guoju, a woman, was sentenced to death by the Puyang...
Li Guoju, a woman, was sentenced to death by the Puyang intermediate and two others were given life imprisonment after being found guilty of trafficking 120 babies in central China's impoverished Henan province
- JUNE 16, 2004IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
One of the death row inmates pardoned last year by...
One of the death row inmates pardoned last year by former Governor George Ryan is facing drug charges for the 2nd time in 5 months
- JUNE 16, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
a man named Rustam Baig was hanged in Pakistan for murder
a man named Rustam Baig was hanged in Pakistan for murder
- JUNE 14, 2004KyrgyzstanDEATH PENALTY
The human rights commissioner of Kyrgyzstan, Tursunbai...
The human rights commissioner of Kyrgyzstan, Tursunbai Bakir-uulu, proposed introducing a moratorium on the death penalty
- JUNE 13, 2004EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Egyptian lawyer Hanan Mohammed Ali Rashed was sentenced...
Egyptian lawyer Hanan Mohammed Ali Rashed was sentenced to death for killing her husband in collusion with her lover
- JUNE 11, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, convicted Nurunnabi,...
A court in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, convicted Nurunnabi, 30, and sentenced him to death for killing his wife for dowry in 2003
- JUNE 10, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
The Hanoi People's Court, Vietnam, sentenced to death...
The Hanoi People's Court, Vietnam, sentenced to death Pham Xuan Thang, 35, for stabbing a man to death following a brawl at a bar in August 2003
- JUNE 10, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
To Van Tuan, 26, was sentenced to death by a court...
To Van Tuan, 26, was sentenced to death by a court in Vietnam's southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City for stabbing to death his ex-lover in November 2003 after she left him
- JUNE 10, 2004JapanDEATH PENALTY
Tomoko Miyazaki, a 58-year-old woman who was sentenced...
Tomoko Miyazaki, a 58-year-old woman who was sentenced to death for kidnapping and killing two young women in Toyama and Nagano prefectures in 1980, asked the Toyama District Court for a retrial in November 2003, her lawyers said
- JUNE 8, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tran Trung Dung, 23, was sentenced to death by firing...
Tran Trung Dung, 23, was sentenced to death by firing squad in Vietnam after being convicted of murdering his girlfriend in a jealous rage
- JUNE 2, 2004RwandaDEATH PENALTY
Rwandan tribunals sentenced 18 people to death in 2003...
Rwandan tribunals sentenced 18 people to death in 2003 for their participation in the 1994 genocide, according to Amnesty International in a report it released the previous week on the state of human rights in the world
- JUNE 2, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
a man named Faiz Bakhsh was hanged in Pakistan for murder
a man named Faiz Bakhsh was hanged in Pakistan for murder
- JUNE 1, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Ahsan Habib Titu was sentenced to death in absentia...
Ahsan Habib Titu was sentenced to death in absentia by a Speedy Trail Tribunal and seven others were sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader at Dewanganj in Jamalpur district in 1999
- MAY 29, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Hoang Van Xuan, a 27-year-old builder, was sentenced...
Hoang Van Xuan, a 27-year-old builder, was sentenced to death by firing squad in Vietnam after being convicted of murdering three members of one family and looting their house
- MAY 28, 2004IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
Gordon Steidl was freed from an Illinois prison May...
Gordon Steidl was freed from an Illinois prison May 28th, 2004, 17 years after he was wrongly convicted and sentenced to die for a 1986 dual murder