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
- NOVEMBER 27, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
An assurance that Michael McCrea, a 45 year old British...
An assurance that Michael McCrea, a 45 year old British national wanted in Singapore over a double murder, would not face the death penalty if he was extradited from Australia was not legally enforceable, the Australian Federal Court was told
- NOVEMBER 27, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
An assurance that Michael McCrea, a 45 year old British...
An assurance that Michael McCrea, a 45 year old British national wanted in Singapore over a double murder, would not face the death penalty if he was extradited from Australia was not legally enforceable, the Australian Federal Court was told
- NOVEMBER 26, 2003CanadaDEATH PENALTY
Five years after Canada deported a man to Pennsylvania,...
Five years after Canada deported a man to Pennsylvania, with the full knowledge he was headed for death row, the federal government asked that the death penalty not be carried out against convicted killer Roger Judge
- NOVEMBER 26, 2003BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
The Botswana Centre for Human Rights (Ditshwanelo)...
The Botswana Centre for Human Rights (Ditshwanelo) criticised Botswana authorities for continuing to hang death row convicts
- NOVEMBER 23, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in northeast China sentenced three people to...
A court in northeast China sentenced three people to death for defrauding 6,400 people through investment schemes, state media said
- NOVEMBER 22, 2003SudanDEATH PENALTY
7 people were tried for an attack on a village belonging...
7 people were tried for an attack on a village belonging to the Reziegat tribe on 1 July 2003
- NOVEMBER 18, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Allahabad High Court, India, commuted nine out...
The Allahabad High Court, India, commuted nine out of thirteen death sentences and acquitted the four remaining convicts of their death sentences
- NOVEMBER 16, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Five people were sentenced to death in Bangladesh for...
Five people were sentenced to death in Bangladesh for killing Rafiqul Islam, 30, on December 29, 2000
- NOVEMBER 16, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
The Speedy Trial Tribunal of Dhaka, Bangladesh, sentenced...
The Speedy Trial Tribunal of Dhaka, Bangladesh, sentenced eight people to death, five of which in absentia, and sentenced five others to life rigorous imprisonment for their involvement in the murder of two jewellery shop salesmen in Kishoreganj
- NOVEMBER 14, 2003MexicoDEATH PENALTY
A Mexican court-martial condemned Second Lt
A Mexican court-martial condemned Second Lt
- NOVEMBER 14, 2003GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Guatemala sentenced Santos Hernandez to...
A court in Guatemala sentenced Santos Hernandez to death by lethal injection for killing five native family members in Chiquimula
- NOVEMBER 12, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
The Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh, sentenced...
The Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh, sentenced seven people to death and one person to life imprisonment for killing Juba Dal leader Kabul Khan, 27
- NOVEMBER 11, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Niaz Ahmed, a Muslim, was sentenced to death in Pakistan...
Niaz Ahmed, a Muslim, was sentenced to death in Pakistan for insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammad
- NOVEMBER 11, 2003MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A total of 121 death row convicts were awaiting execution...
A total of 121 death row convicts were awaiting execution in prisons nationwide, the Malaysian Senate was told
- NOVEMBER 11, 2003Papua New GuineaDEATH PENALTY
Papua New Guinea Justice Minister Mark Maipakai admitted...
Papua New Guinea Justice Minister Mark Maipakai admitted in parliament that there was a problem in how the death penalty would be carried out once it was imposed on a prisoner
- NOVEMBER 7, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A court in India's capital, Delhi, sentenced to death...
A court in India's capital, Delhi, sentenced to death a former politician who shot his wife and burned her dismembered body in a restaurant oven
- NOVEMBER 5, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A Thai court sentenced a Russian national to death...
A Thai court sentenced a Russian national to death for a bank robbery during which a police officer was shot dead
- NOVEMBER 5, 2003RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A Thai court sentenced a Russian national to death...
A Thai court sentenced a Russian national to death for a bank robbery during which a police officer was shot dead
- NOVEMBER 3, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Two men were sentenced to death by a Beijing intermediate...
Two men were sentenced to death by a Beijing intermediate court for fraud involving the buying and selling of value-added tax (VAT) vouchers that were eventually used in writing off some 393 million (47 million dollars) in taxes, state press said
- NOVEMBER 3, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
In Conroe, a Montgomery County jury sentenced convicted...
In Conroe, a Montgomery County jury sentenced convicted murderer Jason Burkett to life in prison for killing three people in a 2001 plot to steal their cars
- OCTOBER 30, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra...
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri had commuted the death sentence of convicted murderer Harnoko Dewantoro, alias Oki, to life imprisonment
- OCTOBER 29, 2003MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
M. Kathavarayan, 54, was sentenced to death by the...
M. Kathavarayan, 54, was sentenced to death by the Malaysian High Court for trafficking 937.8g of cannabis
- OCTOBER 29, 2003JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Tokyo District Court, Japan, sentenced Tomomasa...
The Tokyo District Court, Japan, sentenced Tomomasa Nakagawa, a senior figure of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, to death for multiple murder in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack and 10 other crimes
- OCTOBER 29, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Delhi High court, India, acquitted two people originally...
The Delhi High court, India, acquitted two people originally sentenced to death in the December 13, 2001, terrorist attack on Parliament, lecturer Sayed Abdul Rahman Geelani and Afsan Guru, a woman
- OCTOBER 28, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Since independence in 1945, Indonesian courts had sentenced...
Since independence in 1945, Indonesian courts had sentenced a total of 70 people to death with 11 of them already executed, an Attorny General's Office (AGO) spokesman said
- OCTOBER 28, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Huu Hau, 23, was sentenced to death in southern...
Nguyen Huu Hau, 23, was sentenced to death in southern Vietnam for killing a 16-year-old girl after she repeatedly spurned his advances
- OCTOBER 27, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced...
The Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wang Jie, a 29-year-old woman, to death and fined her 150,000 yuan (US$ 18,072) for murder, fraud and theft
- OCTOBER 27, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, sentenced a man named...
A court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, sentenced a man named only as Borhanuddin to death in absentia for killing his father in 1998
- OCTOBER 27, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Abdul Khaleque was sentenced to death by a special...
Abdul Khaleque was sentenced to death by a special tribunal court in Bangladesh for killing his wife
- OCTOBER 25, 2003ChadDEATH PENALTY
A court in Chad sentenced four men to death for the...
A court in Chad sentenced four men to death for the murder of Sudanese businessman Acheik Ibni Oumar Idriss Youssouf, who headed the Chad Petroleum company