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
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Bangladesh convicted Rabi Munda, 37, and...
A court in Bangladesh convicted Rabi Munda, 37, and sentenced him to death by hanging for killing his colleague
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2003JordanDEATH PENALTY
Three men were sentenced to death by a Criminal Court...
Three men were sentenced to death by a Criminal Court in Jordan for robbing and murdering a jewellery store owner in Irbid in May 2000
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Five people were sentenced to death in China's westernmost...
Five people were sentenced to death in China's westernmost Xinjiang Autonomous Region in a trial touted as the region's biggest ever mafia court case, state press said
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
An Indian court sentenced Dara Singh to death and 12...
An Indian court sentenced Dara Singh to death and 12 others to life imprisonment for killing an Australian Christian missionary and his two young sons in a mob attack
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2003SenegalDEATH PENALTY
A court in Dakar, Senegal, sentenced to death Abdoualaye...
A court in Dakar, Senegal, sentenced to death Abdoualaye Diagne, an armed robber nicknamed "Foreman," found guilty of stabbing a young soldier in the throat to steal his belongings on 28 August 1993
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Chandrajeet Yadav, an ex traffic police constable sentenced...
Chandrajeet Yadav, an ex traffic police constable sentenced to death for murdering his wife Vidya Devi along with his four daughters, Neetu, Kiran, Madhu and Suman, had his conviction upheld by a high court in India but had his punishment reduced to life
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Shamsul Alam was sentenced to death by an Additional...
Shamsul Alam was sentenced to death by an Additional District and Sessions Judge Court in Bangladesh for killing his wife
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2003FranceDEATH PENALTY
A Moroccan court on sentenced Frenchman Pierre Robert...
A Moroccan court on sentenced Frenchman Pierre Robert to life imprisonment under anti-terrorism legislation introduced following suicide bombings by Islamist extremists in Casablanca in May 2003
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2003MoroccoDEATH PENALTY
A Moroccan court on sentenced Frenchman Pierre Robert...
A Moroccan court on sentenced Frenchman Pierre Robert to life imprisonment under anti-terrorism legislation introduced following suicide bombings by Islamist extremists in Casablanca in May 2003
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Jun, sentenced to death for killing a neighbouring...
Li Jun, sentenced to death for killing a neighbouring businessman in the market he had worked in for several years, was allowed to meet with his wife in the meeting room of the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2003UzbekistanDEATH PENALTY
Uzbek laws stress that death sentences are not applied...
Uzbek laws stress that death sentences are not applied to convicts who are found to have a mental disorder
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2003IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
Ryan's clemencies challenged----32 cases were ineligible,...
Ryan's clemencies challenged----32 cases were ineligible, Supreme Court told Months after former Gov
- SEPTEMBER 15, 2003Council of EuropeDEATH PENALTY
Four people were sentenced to death in Belarus in 2002,...
Four people were sentenced to death in Belarus in 2002, but no one was executed, Belarussian Deputy Interior Minister and head of the Investigation Committee Leonid Glukhovsky said at a joint seminar of the Belarus National Assembly and the Parliamentary
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2003YemenDEATH PENALTY
A Yemen court sentenced Ali al-Jarallah's, a Muslim...
A Yemen court sentenced Ali al-Jarallah's, a Muslim extremist, to death
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Jahangir Hossain Bhuiyan was sentenced to death in...
Jahangir Hossain Bhuiyan was sentenced to death in absentia by the District and Sessions Court in Chandpur, Bangladesh, for killing his two sisters by throwing them into the Meghna river
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
Imam Samudra, the Islamic militant who masterminded...
Imam Samudra, the Islamic militant who masterminded the bombing of two Bali nightclubs which killed 202 people, was sentenced to death
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
Hearings ordered for 10 on death row
Hearings ordered for 10 on death row
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2003UgandaDEATH PENALTY
Corporal Pimundu Gimaro of the Ugandan Military Police...
Corporal Pimundu Gimaro of the Ugandan Military Police was sentenced to death by the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) field court martial for cowardice and failure to carry out duties
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2003United NationsDEATH PENALTY
The UN Human Rights Committee said Canadian authorities...
The UN Human Rights Committee said Canadian authorities breached an international human rights treaty by deporting convicted killer Roger Judge back to death row in Pennsylvania in 1998 after he had served a separate 10-year term in Quebec for crimes comm
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
The Special Tribunal on Women and Children Repression...
The Special Tribunal on Women and Children Repression in Dhaka, Bangladesh, sentenced six people, including two women, to death by hanging for the April 23, 1998, rape and murder of Shazneen Tasnim Rahman
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
A Pakistani court sentenced four men to death for kidnapping...
A Pakistani court sentenced four men to death for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old village girl
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Thanh Vu, 27, was sentenced to death by the...
Nguyen Thanh Vu, 27, was sentenced to death by the provincial people's court in the southern Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, Vietnam, after being found guilty of murdering and raping a seven-year-old girl
- AUGUST 31, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Bangladesh convicted Abdus Salam, 27, Nazrul...
A court in Bangladesh convicted Abdus Salam, 27, Nazrul Islam, 25, and Selim, 25, in absentia and condemned them to death for murder
- AUGUST 30, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Three people were sentenced to death and one to life...
Three people were sentenced to death and one to life imprisonment by the Kolkata city sessions court, India, for murder
- AUGUST 30, 2003MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Jefri Ibrahim, a 26 year old welder, was sentenced...
Jefri Ibrahim, a 26 year old welder, was sentenced to death by the Malaysian High Court for trafficking 1,7 kg of cannabis on August 10, 2001
- AUGUST 29, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Muhammad Ayub Hazara was sentenced to death on four...
Muhammad Ayub Hazara was sentenced to death on four counts by a Special court for Anti terrorist Activities after being found guilty of gunning down his wife, her parents and a nearby driver
- AUGUST 29, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A father and son were acquitted of heroin-trafficking...
A father and son were acquitted of heroin-trafficking charges, but the father's mistress and two accomplices in the same gang were sentenced to death
- AUGUST 28, 2003JapanDEATH PENALTY
A Japanese court sentenced to death Mamoru Takuma,...
A Japanese court sentenced to death Mamoru Takuma, a 39-year-old man who killed eight children after running amok with a butcher's knife in an elementary school in 2001
- AUGUST 28, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
A jury sentenced Ray McArthur Freeney, 29, to death...
A jury sentenced Ray McArthur Freeney, 29, to death for raping and killing 2 prostitutes, Kirschalynne S
- AUGUST 27, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Indian Supreme Court imposed the death penalty...
The Indian Supreme Court imposed the death penalty on Keraj Ram, a man who, having doubts regarding his wife's fidelity, killed "in a cruel and diabolic manner" his wife, children and brother-in-law