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 24, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two drug traffickers on death-row in Vietnam had their...
Two drug traffickers on death-row in Vietnam had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by President Tran Duc Luong, state media said
- OCTOBER 23, 2003OhioDEATH PENALTY
An Ohio prisoner convicted of strangling his cellmate...
An Ohio prisoner convicted of strangling his cellmate has been sentenced to execution
- OCTOBER 22, 2003NebraskaDEATH PENALTY
In Omaha, a man who killed 2 children should be sentenced...
In Omaha, a man who killed 2 children should be sentenced to death, a jury found
- OCTOBER 22, 2003South CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
In Beaufort, a jury sentenced Abdiyyah ben Alkebulanyahh...
In Beaufort, a jury sentenced Abdiyyah ben Alkebulanyahh to death
- OCTOBER 16, 2003TennesseeDEATH PENALTY
3 hours of deliberation was all it took to convict...
3 hours of deliberation was all it took to convict Richard Taylor of 1st-degree murder for killing Ronald Moore, a prison guard, with a foot-long piece of sharpened metal in 1981
- OCTOBER 15, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A Dubai court in the United Arab Emirates, sentenced...
A Dubai court in the United Arab Emirates, sentenced four Indians to death for the murder of a well-known Indian businessman who was reportedly gunned down in broad daylight in a reported gangland revenge killing
- OCTOBER 15, 2003United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
A Dubai court in the United Arab Emirates, sentenced...
A Dubai court in the United Arab Emirates, sentenced four Indians to death for the murder of a well-known Indian businessman who was reportedly gunned down in broad daylight in a reported gangland revenge killing
- OCTOBER 15, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Habigani, Bangladesh, sentenced to death...
A court in Habigani, Bangladesh, sentenced to death Somed Ali of Berma for killing his wife Angura Begum, 22, following a quarrel with her over Somed's extra marital affairs with his cousin
- OCTOBER 14, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A speedy trial court in Bangladesh sentenced Minto...
A speedy trial court in Bangladesh sentenced Minto Ghose to death for killing his neighbour Nilkanta Sur, 35, on 12 December 2001
- OCTOBER 14, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Van Dung was sentenced to death by the People's...
Nguyen Van Dung was sentenced to death by the People's Court in Haiphong for murdering two children on June 3, 2003 while looting their house in northern Vietnam
- OCTOBER 13, 2003SudanDEATH PENALTY
Nyala Criminal Court sentenced 14 men and one woman...
Nyala Criminal Court sentenced 14 men and one woman to death by hanging
- OCTOBER 10, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Lahu Dhekane was sentenced to death by an Additional...
Lahu Dhekane was sentenced to death by an Additional and Sessions Court in Pune, India, for the 4 July 2003 abduction, and eventual murder, of Amit Sonawane, 13, from Nira
- OCTOBER 10, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
School teacher Wang Furong was sentenced to death for...
School teacher Wang Furong was sentenced to death for raping five young pupils and molesting other children at a rural school in northern China's Shaanxi province
- OCTOBER 7, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Lo Van Tuoi, a 39 year old man from Lai Chau province,...
Lo Van Tuoi, a 39 year old man from Lai Chau province, Vietnam, was sentenced to death for trafficking heroin from Laos and China
- OCTOBER 6, 2003KazakhstanDEATH PENALTY
Four members of a criminal gang were sentenced to death...
Four members of a criminal gang were sentenced to death by the Karaganda Regional court in Kazakhstan after being found guilty of murdering five lorry drivers between February and June 2002
- OCTOBER 4, 2003KentuckyDEATH PENALTY
Sammy Fields, 31, was convicted of murder and first-degree...
Sammy Fields, 31, was convicted of murder and first-degree burglary Wednesday in a retrial
- OCTOBER 4, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
The Additional District and Sessions Judge Court in...
The Additional District and Sessions Judge Court in Sylhet, Bangladesh, sentenced six people to death and one to life imprisonment in two separate murder cases
- OCTOBER 3, 2003PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Philippine officials rejected criticism by the human...
Philippine officials rejected criticism by the human rights group Amnesty International (AI) that Manila had put minors on death row
- OCTOBER 1, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
An Indian court sentenced to death a man, identified...
An Indian court sentenced to death a man, identified only as Poonaji, who was convicted of burning his wife, four daughters and a neighbour to death in a fit of rage
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Shaggier Ahmed was sentenced to death on three counts...
Shaggier Ahmed was sentenced to death on three counts by a District and Sessions court in Pakistan for murdering his wife, his father-in-law and his mother-in-law in 2002
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Tan Chee Wee, 30, was sentenced to death by a court...
Tan Chee Wee, 30, was sentenced to death by a court in Singapore for murdering a woman during a house robbery on 9 January 2003
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2003BelgiumDEATH PENALTY
HOC MEETS PRODI AND FRATTINI AS EUROPEAN MISSION ENDS
September 30, 2003: the European mission conducted by George Ryan together with Leroy Orange came to an end on Monday in Brussels.
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Hasan Yousefi, an Iranian man convicted of murdering...
Hasan Yousefi, an Iranian man convicted of murdering four people, was publicly hanged in a square in the north-western city of Maragheh, the Kayhan newspaper reported, quoting a statement from the West Azarbaijan province's judiciary
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
In Gastonia, a new jury sentenced Jeff Duke to death...
In Gastonia, a new jury sentenced Jeff Duke to death a 2nd time for the same crime -- killing 2 men
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in...
Iranian courts sentenced three men to death for, in at least two of the cases, having contacts with outlawed political organisations, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a statement
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Chau Thanh Tam was sentenced to death by a court in...
Chau Thanh Tam was sentenced to death by a court in the southern province of Dong Thap for killing Nguyen Thi Hong, mother of his lover, in February 2003 after she turned down their marriage proposal
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Mai Viet Phong, a 43 year old Vietnamese man, was sentenced...
Mai Viet Phong, a 43 year old Vietnamese man, was sentenced to death by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court after being convicted of organising and carrying out five armed robberies, which severely wounded five people, between February and April 2001
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in Shanghai sentenced Bo Jun to death for robbery...
A court in Shanghai sentenced Bo Jun to death for robbery and rape
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2003SpainDEATH PENALTY
Former Illinois governor and HOC honorary president...
Former Illinois governor and HOC honorary president George Ryan and former death row inmate Leroy Orange visited the Spanish capital Madrid to promote the campaign for a worldwide moratorium on executions through a UN resolution
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2003ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Former Illinois governor and HOC honorary president...
Former Illinois governor and HOC honorary president George Ryan and former death row inmate Leroy Orange visited the Spanish capital Madrid to promote the campaign for a worldwide moratorium on executions through a UN resolution