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
- AUGUST 26, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Two Pakistani men convicted of drug trafficking were...
Two Pakistani men convicted of drug trafficking were beheaded in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabian city
- AUGUST 26, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Two Pakistani men convicted of drug trafficking were...
Two Pakistani men convicted of drug trafficking were beheaded in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabian city
- AUGUST 26, 2003MaliDEATH PENALTY
Fousseyni Thera, 27, a Malian man, who had his five-year-old...
Fousseyni Thera, 27, a Malian man, who had his five-year-old son's throat slit in order to conjure up good luck, was sentenced to death
- AUGUST 25, 2003YemenDEATH PENALTY
A Yemeni court sentenced Mohsen Yehya Monassar, 42,...
A Yemeni court sentenced Mohsen Yehya Monassar, 42, to death by firing squad
- AUGUST 23, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Bangladesh sentenced nine people to death,...
A court in Bangladesh sentenced nine people to death, including three brothers, after convicting them of killing a 42-year-old man
- AUGUST 20, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Shanghai court sentenced to death Huang Ligang, 22,...
A Shanghai court sentenced to death Huang Ligang, 22, and Cheng Liang, 19, after convicting them of stabbing to death Soong Yu, 40, a Taiwan businessman living in the city, the Shanghai Daily reported
- AUGUST 19, 2003MoroccoDEATH PENALTY
A Moroccan criminal court sentenced four Islamic activists...
A Moroccan criminal court sentenced four Islamic activists to death and dozens of others to heavy jail terms for suicide bomb attacks that killed 45 people in the city of Casablanca in May 2003
- AUGUST 15, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Liaoning Higher People's Court sentenced Liu Yong...
The Liaoning Higher People's Court sentenced Liu Yong to death with two years reprieve for leading an organised gang, intentional homicide, offering bribes and illegal possession of guns
- AUGUST 11, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ha Thu Thuy, a 35-year-old woman, was sentenced to...
Ha Thu Thuy, a 35-year-old woman, was sentenced to death in Vietnam's southern province of Kien Giang
- AUGUST 11, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Firoj, 32, was sentenced to death by a court in Bangladesh...
Firoj, 32, was sentenced to death by a court in Bangladesh for killing his cousin
- AUGUST 10, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
The Indian Law Commission said that public opinion...
The Indian Law Commission said that public opinion on the mode of executing prisoners on death row favoured an amendment to the law, which stipulated hanging as the method of execution
- AUGUST 10, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Deepak Chakrawarty, a 30 year old Bangladeshi, was...
Deepak Chakrawarty, a 30 year old Bangladeshi, was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing his younger brother, Ripon Chakrawarty, 24, with an axe on 2 February 2002 following an argument
- AUGUST 9, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twenty-six convicted criminals were collectively sentenced...
Twenty-six convicted criminals were collectively sentenced to death in China's southern city of Guangzhou as part of a government effort to clear a back-log of cases awaiting verdict, state press reported
- AUGUST 9, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Six accused were sentenced to death on two counts by...
Six accused were sentenced to death on two counts by a Special Anti-Terrorism Court in Pakistan
- AUGUST 8, 2003CanadaDEATH PENALTY
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of...
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001 were freed by the Gulf state
- AUGUST 8, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of...
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001 were freed by the Gulf state
- AUGUST 8, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of...
Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian convicted of carrying out a wave of bombings in Saudi Arabia in 2000 and early 2001 were freed by the Gulf state
- AUGUST 8, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Musaddiq Aziz was sentenced to death by Additional...
Musaddiq Aziz was sentenced to death by Additional Session Judge Rahimyar Khan Aun Mohammed Rizwi after being convicted of murdering Pervez Iqbal following a dispute over water supply in 2001
- AUGUST 8, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Fajian was sentenced to death for his part in stabbing...
Li Fajian was sentenced to death for his part in stabbing a British woman
- AUGUST 3, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Four young men were sentenced to death in Bangladesh...
Four young men were sentenced to death in Bangladesh for the rape and murder of Hasina Banu, 15, in 1999
- JULY 30, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Two Iranians convicted of murder were hanged in Tehran's...
Two Iranians convicted of murder were hanged in Tehran's Ghasr prison, the government daily Iran reported
- JULY 30, 2003MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Wong Joo Sen, 34, was sentenced to death by the Malaysian...
Wong Joo Sen, 34, was sentenced to death by the Malaysian High Court after he was found guilty of trafficking in 6,000 Ecstasy pills in 2001
- JULY 29, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Swapan Gazi, a 24 year old Bangladeshi, was sentenced...
Swapan Gazi, a 24 year old Bangladeshi, was sentenced to death by hanging for hurling acid on his nine-year-old wife, leaving her partially deaf and blind
- JULY 23, 2003OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
Convicted killer sentenced to death again
Convicted killer sentenced to death again
- JULY 18, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ma Xin, a Beijing man, was sentenced to death by the...
Ma Xin, a Beijing man, was sentenced to death by the Beijing intermediate court on for counterfeiting official corporate stamps and financial documents
- JULY 18, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Four ring leaders of a gang in south-west China's Sichuan...
Four ring leaders of a gang in south-west China's Sichuan province were sentenced to death
- JULY 18, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Pattana Sriwiboon, 38, was sentenced to death after...
Pattana Sriwiboon, 38, was sentenced to death after he admitted killing Thaweepong Boonsin, 45, mayor of tambon Tha Phae, on August 22, 2001
- JULY 17, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Le My Linh, an Australian woman condemned to death...
Le My Linh, an Australian woman condemned to death by a Vietnamese court in 2002 on drug trafficking charges, had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment
- JULY 17, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A Speedy Trial Court in Bangladesh sentenced to death...
A Speedy Trial Court in Bangladesh sentenced to death in absentia Shafiqur Rahman Tuhin for poisoning to death his mother-in-law and five other members of the family on 25 June 2002
- JULY 15, 2003North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Jimmy McNeill, 50, was sentenced to death by a Scotland...
Jimmy McNeill, 50, was sentenced to death by a Scotland County jury for the murder of his wife