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
- JULY 15, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman sentenced to death...
Amina Lawal, the Nigerian woman sentenced to death last year for adultery by a Sharia court in the state of Katsina, will not be stoned, Zamfara state Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, Amina Yusuf Garba, told the Italian daily Avvenire
- JULY 15, 2003UzbekistanDEATH PENALTY
Yevgeniy Toropov, a 25-year-old man living in the Uzbek...
Yevgeniy Toropov, a 25-year-old man living in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, was sentenced to death for murdering four people in order to steal their money, Uzbek TV reported
- JULY 12, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Judge Ch
Judge Ch
- JULY 12, 2003MoroccoDEATH PENALTY
10 alleged members of a radical Islamic group which...
10 alleged members of a radical Islamic group which was suspected of having been involved in the 16 May 2003 suicide attacks in Morocco that killed 44 people were sentenced to death
- JULY 10, 2003KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Convicted prisoners at the Kamiti Maximum Security...
Convicted prisoners at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Kenya, complained to Home Affairs Minister Moody Awori, during his visit to the institution, saying their appeals took too long to be determined, especially for those sentenced to death, and that
- JULY 10, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Haji Giasuddin, 58, and Jamaluddin, 48, two Bangladeshi...
Haji Giasuddin, 58, and Jamaluddin, 48, two Bangladeshi men sentenced to death in 1994, were executed in the early hours of the day
- JULY 10, 2003KazakhstanDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty rate in Kazakhstan was declining,...
The death penalty rate in Kazakhstan was declining, Justice Minister Onalsyn Zhumabekov told a session of the Legal Policy Council in Astana
- JULY 10, 2003European UnionDEATH PENALTY
Italy's EU presidency was urged to ensure that the...
Italy's EU presidency was urged to ensure that the rights of terrorist suspects facing secret US military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay were respected
- JULY 8, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Judge Shahed Noor Uddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal...
Judge Shahed Noor Uddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced to death five men and also sentenced a man accused of abetting the murder to life in prison
- JULY 8, 2003TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
Asia Plus news agency reported that the Tajik Supreme...
Asia Plus news agency reported that the Tajik Supreme Court's Military Collegium sentenced a former presidential guard to death
- JULY 8, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Three drug traffickers were sentenced to death by the...
Three drug traffickers were sentenced to death by the People's Court in Vietnam's northern province of Ha Tay as part of the government's long-running campaign to wipe out the narcotics trade, court officials said
- JULY 7, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
"The prison department in Jharkhand has a strange problem:...
"The prison department in Jharkhand has a strange problem: The state's jail has 12 men who have been sentenced to death, but no hangman to execute these sentences," the Hindustan Times reported
- JULY 2, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW)...
International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Saudi Arabia to spare two female housemaids, from Indonesia and the Philippines, on death row for allegedly killing their female employers
- JULY 2, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Ripon, 20, was sentenced to death by the a Speedy Trial...
Ripon, 20, was sentenced to death by the a Speedy Trial Court in Bangladesh for the murder of his brother-in-law at Demra
- JULY 2, 2003PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW)...
International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Saudi Arabia to spare two female housemaids, from Indonesia and the Philippines, on death row for allegedly killing their female employers
- JULY 2, 2003IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW)...
International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Saudi Arabia to spare two female housemaids, from Indonesia and the Philippines, on death row for allegedly killing their female employers
- JULY 2, 2003Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
A Sri Lankan court sentenced five people to death,...
A Sri Lankan court sentenced five people to death, including two police officers, for their role in a massacre at a detention camp housing suspected Tamil Tiger rebels and former child soldiers
- JULY 1, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand's Criminal Court sentenced four Laotians to...
Thailand's Criminal Court sentenced four Laotians to death for intending to sell illegal drugs in the kingdom
- JUNE 30, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Kola Mia, 25, was sentenced to...
It was reported that Kola Mia, 25, was sentenced to death by a District Court in Bangladesh for killing a neighbour after she refused to marry him
- JUNE 30, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
A Pakistani court sentenced three Islamic militants...
A Pakistani court sentenced three Islamic militants to death for plotting a May 2002 suicide car bomb attack that killed 11 French naval engineers and two Pakistani bystanders in the southern port city Karachi
- JUNE 29, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
The Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 of Dhaka, Bangladesh, awarded...
The Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 of Dhaka, Bangladesh, awarded the death penalty to three leaders of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of Bangladesh National Party, and sentenced five others to life-term Rigorous Imprisonment for the killing Sab
- JUNE 26, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Xulun was sentenced to death by the Hangzhou Intermediate...
Chen Xulun was sentenced to death by the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court, Zhejiang Province, China, after being found guilty of trafficking in 10,175 ecstasy pills and 207 g of ketamine powder
- JUNE 24, 2003TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
Tajik television reported that Tajikistan's Supreme...
Tajik television reported that Tajikistan's Supreme Court had passed sentences on five citizens who had committed "a number of grave crimes," and sentenced to death two of them for the "violent murder of citizen Rahmatullo Rahimov"
- JUNE 23, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
A district court in India sentenced to death Surendrapal...
A district court in India sentenced to death Surendrapal Shivpal, who was arrested on charges of raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl in September 2002
- JUNE 23, 2003FloridaDEATH PENALTY
David Charles Carpenter, 41, who twice was sentenced...
David Charles Carpenter, 41, who twice was sentenced to death will now remain in prison for life without parole
- JUNE 20, 2003PakistanDEATH PENALTY
The Sialkot Additional District and Sessions Judge...
The Sialkot Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Sarwar Sidhu awarded a death sentence each with a fine of Rs
- JUNE 13, 2003North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
A jury recommended the death penalty for Jathiya A
A jury recommended the death penalty for Jathiya A
- JUNE 12, 2003AlabamaDEATH PENALTY
Circuit Judge Sam Monk sentenced Donald Ray Wheat ,...
Circuit Judge Sam Monk sentenced Donald Ray Wheat , 49, to death for the May 2002 gunshot slayings of 4 men during a holdup at a Blockbuster video store
- JUNE 12, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
In Dallas, a jury sentenced prison escapee Randy Halprin...
In Dallas, a jury sentenced prison escapee Randy Halprin to death today for his role in the Christmas Eve 2000 slaying of a police officer
- JUNE 10, 2003JapanDEATH PENALTY
The Tokyo District Court sentence to death Yoshio Ando,...
The Tokyo District Court sentence to death Yoshio Ando, a homeless man, for murdering three other homeless men in Tokyo in 1999