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
- MARCH 22, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xu Lijie, 42, was sentenced to death by the Bozhou...
Xu Lijie, 42, was sentenced to death by the Bozhou City Intermediate People's Court of east China's Anhui Province
- MARCH 22, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ho Van Thanh, a 47-year-old man, was sentenced to death...
Ho Van Thanh, a 47-year-old man, was sentenced to death by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court, Vietnam, for murdering a man while in a drunken rage
- MARCH 22, 2004TexasDEATH PENALTY
Rodrigo Hernandez, 30, has been convicted to death...
Rodrigo Hernandez, 30, has been convicted to death for the February 1994 rape and slaying of Susan Verstegen, 25
- MARCH 20, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Slalhuddin Tipu and Abdul Jabber Labu were sentenced...
Slalhuddin Tipu and Abdul Jabber Labu were sentenced to death and five others were awarded life imprisonment by a speedy trial tribunal in Chittagong, Banlgadesh, for the murder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Kamaluddin
- MARCH 19, 2004VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Luong Van Thanh, 22, and Nguyen Van Hoa, 48, were executed...
Luong Van Thanh, 22, and Nguyen Van Hoa, 48, were executed at dawn by firing squad at Hanoi's Cau Nga, Vietnam, for drug trafficking
- MARCH 19, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Wang Baosheng, 50, Lu Wenlin and Wu Zhijun were sentenced...
Wang Baosheng, 50, Lu Wenlin and Wu Zhijun were sentenced to death by the No 1 Intermediate People's Court of Beijing on charges of voluntary manslaughter and forging value-added invoices
- MARCH 19, 2004FloridaDEATH PENALTY
Jurors recommended to a Pinellas-Pasco circuit court...
Jurors recommended to a Pinellas-Pasco circuit court judge that Troy Merck jr
- MARCH 17, 2004North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
In Asheboro, a jury has sentenced Jason Wayne Hurst...
In Asheboro, a jury has sentenced Jason Wayne Hurst to death for the murder and robbery of Daniel Lee Branch on June 9, 2002
- MARCH 17, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh, convicted...
A Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh, convicted five people, sentencing one of them to death and four others to life term imprisonment for the murder of Shajahan Hawlader Sujon
- MARCH 17, 2004BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Shah Alam Howlader, 35, was sentenced to death by a...
Shah Alam Howlader, 35, was sentenced to death by a Speedy Trail Tribunal Barisal, Bangladesh, for killing a fisherman at Uttar Kazlakathi village in Bakerganj on October 13, 2002 as a result of a past dispute over fishing in the Karkhana river
- MARCH 16, 2004GrenadaDEATH PENALTY
The Grenada High Court ruled that the death sentences...
The Grenada High Court ruled that the death sentences handed down in 1986 to the so called "Grenada 17" were unconstitutional
- MARCH 15, 2004SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Zailani Ahmad, 35, was sentenced to death by a court...
Zailani Ahmad, 35, was sentenced to death by a court in Singapore after being convicted of killing Chi Tue Tiong, a 68-year-old caretaker, during a robbery on June 28, 2003
- MARCH 15, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China sentences to death and immediately executes around...
China sentences to death and immediately executes around 10,000 convicted criminals every year, according to Chen Zhonglin, a delegate who was seeking to curb the practice at China's parliamentary session
- MARCH 13, 2004ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death by lethal...
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death by lethal injection four people after convicting them of possessing more than one million methamphetamine pills
- MARCH 12, 2004RussiaDEATH PENALTY
It was announced that Yelena Timchenko, a Russian woman...
It was announced that Yelena Timchenko, a Russian woman sentenced to death in China in March 2002 for drugs trafficking, could have her punishment eased
- MARCH 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
It was announced that Yelena Timchenko, a Russian woman...
It was announced that Yelena Timchenko, a Russian woman sentenced to death in China in March 2002 for drugs trafficking, could have her punishment eased
- MARCH 12, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Zheng Hongjun and Zheng Jinning, two leaders of a smuggling...
Zheng Hongjun and Zheng Jinning, two leaders of a smuggling gang, were sentenced to death by the People's Intermediate Court in Guangzhou on charges of trafficking diesel oil from Hong Kong
- MARCH 9, 2004Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
The Burma Lawyers' Council (BLC), a Thailand-based...
The Burma Lawyers' Council (BLC), a Thailand-based Burmese legal advocacy group, issued an urgent appeal to the international community on behalf of nine people who were sentenced to death by a Rangoon court in November 2003
- MARCH 9, 2004ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
A jury sentenced David Lamar Anthony, 55, to 3 death...
A jury sentenced David Lamar Anthony, 55, to 3 death sentences for the 2001 murder of his wife and 2 stepchildren
- MARCH 6, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Suhail alias Lali was sentenced to death fine of Rs...
Suhail alias Lali was sentenced to death fine of Rs 50,000 in Lahore, Pakistan, by Additional District and Sessions Judge Najam-ul-Hassan Bukhari for murdering a property dealer
- MARCH 6, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Umer Shahid was sentenced to death sentence with a...
Umer Shahid was sentenced to death sentence with a fine of Rs
- MARCH 6, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Tahir Waseem was sentenced to death with a fine of Rs
Tahir Waseem was sentenced to death with a fine of Rs
- MARCH 5, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xu Ming, Luo Shoujun, Cao Zhenjun, three members of...
Xu Ming, Luo Shoujun, Cao Zhenjun, three members of a mafia-like gang, were sentenced to death by an intermediate court in Dalian city, Liaoning province in northeastern China, for theft, assault and kidnapping
- MARCH 3, 2004ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death Phan Phripwai...
The Thai Criminal Court sentenced to death Phan Phripwai and Phongsri Kulasithi, female, for trading 250,000 methamphetamine tablets
- MARCH 2, 2004ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Beijing court sentenced taxi driver Li Pingping to...
A Beijing court sentenced taxi driver Li Pingping to death for killing seven people, three of which he dismembered, and sentenced his wife to 15 years in prison for serving as his accomplice and harbouring loot
- MARCH 2, 2004IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Mohamad Abdul Hafeez, a Pakistani sentenced to death...
Mohamad Abdul Hafeez, a Pakistani sentenced to death in Indonesia for attempting to smuggle 995 grams of heroin into the country from Karachi in May 2001, said his death sentence was too harsh
- MARCH 2, 2004PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Mohamad Abdul Hafeez, a Pakistani sentenced to death...
Mohamad Abdul Hafeez, a Pakistani sentenced to death in Indonesia for attempting to smuggle 995 grams of heroin into the country from Karachi in May 2001, said his death sentence was too harsh
- MARCH 2, 2004MexicoDEATH PENALTY
Defying an order from the judicial arm of the United...
Defying an order from the judicial arm of the United Nations and the request of its state attorney general, in a 3-2 decision the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals sceduled a May 18 execution date for Osvaldo Torres, a Mexican prisoner sentenced to death
- MARCH 1, 2004JordanDEATH PENALTY
A 24-year-old woman, convicted of murdering two children...
A 24-year-old woman, convicted of murdering two children in March 2002, was executed at dawn, in Jordan
- FEBRUARY 29, 2004ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka Medardo Mazombwe and...
Catholic Archbishop of Lusaka Medardo Mazombwe and Zambia Episcope Conference (ZEC) general secretary Fr