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
- JUNE 8, 2003South AfricaDEATH PENALTY
All Africa reported that more than 200 inmates of South...
All Africa reported that more than 200 inmates of South Africa's prisons still had the status of Death Row prisoners even though the African Constitutional Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional on June 6, 1995
- JUNE 7, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chen Zongfa was sentenced to death by the Shanghai...
Chen Zongfa was sentenced to death by the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court following a conviction for double manslaughter
- JUNE 5, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Xinhua news agency reported that nine criminals "convicted...
Xinhua news agency reported that nine criminals "convicted of murder and robbery" were sentenced to death by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Beijing and immediately executed
- JUNE 5, 2003PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Ten former Muslim guerrillas were sentenced to death...
Ten former Muslim guerrillas were sentenced to death by a court in the Philippines for the abduction of five people in 1999
- JUNE 5, 2003OhioDEATH PENALTY
Gerald Hand, 54, has been sentenced to death for murdering...
Gerald Hand, 54, has been sentenced to death for murdering his 4th wife and a friend who prosecutors say helped him kill 2 earlier wives
- JUNE 4, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese court sentenced Zhu Maishu to death for killing...
A Chinese court sentenced Zhu Maishu to death for killing a SARS inspector who was on patrol in his back yard, the official Xinhua news agency reported
- JUNE 4, 2003KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
A criminal court in Kuwait sentenced to death Sami...
A criminal court in Kuwait sentenced to death Sami al-Mutairi, a 25 year old Kuwaiti, for the murder of an American civilian near a US army base in the emirate
- JUNE 3, 2003Puerto RicoDEATH PENALTY
Activists in Puerto Rico, whose constitution bans capital...
Activists in Puerto Rico, whose constitution bans capital punishment, protested an upcoming trial in US federal courts in the country in which two of their compatriots could face the death penalty
- JUNE 1, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Belayet Hossain was sentenced to death for murder after...
Belayet Hossain was sentenced to death for murder after being convicted of raping and murdering Amena Begum Lucky on August 29, 2000
- JUNE 1, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Two Iranian drug smugglers were sentenced to death...
Two Iranian drug smugglers were sentenced to death and four to life in jail in Saudi Arabia after they set fire to their boat loaded with nearly a tonne of hashish during a police chase at sea, Gulf News said
- MAY 30, 2003ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
Zambian MP Chipangali Lucas Phiri said rape offenders...
Zambian MP Chipangali Lucas Phiri said rape offenders needed to be castrated or sentenced to death to serve as a warning to would-be offenders, the Times of Zambia reported
- MAY 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Nguyen Huu Toan, "a Vietnamese...
It was reported that Nguyen Huu Toan, "a Vietnamese drug addict", was sentenced to death for murdering a friend "to steal and sell his jewellery to pay for his next fix", a Ho Chi Minh City court said
- MAY 28, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
A Vietnamese court sentenced to death Denchai Nuntipanich,...
A Vietnamese court sentenced to death Denchai Nuntipanich, a 33 year old Thai national, after convicting him of participating in an illegal football gambling ring and killing a punter to avoid paying out a 45,000 dollar bet, a court official said
- MAY 23, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Raghuwar Dayal was sentenced to death for raping and...
Raghuwar Dayal was sentenced to death for raping and strangling to death a woman named Kalawati
- MAY 23, 2003FloridaDEATH PENALTY
Collier circuit judge Lauren Miller sentenced John...
Collier circuit judge Lauren Miller sentenced John Ballard to death
- MAY 22, 2003PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court sentenced to death a former member...
The Supreme Court sentenced to death a former member of the Citizen's Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) and his companions after they were found guilty of murder and multiple attempted murder
- MAY 22, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Traffic police constable Chandrajeet Yadav was sentenced...
Traffic police constable Chandrajeet Yadav was sentenced to death by Sessions judge JN Paliwal for killing five members of his family, including wife Vidya Devi and four daughters
- MAY 21, 2003JapanDEATH PENALTY
A Japanese court handed down the death penalty to Ryoji...
A Japanese court handed down the death penalty to Ryoji Ui, a 63-year-old man who killed a woman in 2001 while he was on parole
- MAY 21, 2003OhioDEATH PENALTY
A jury in Cincinnati recommended the death sentence...
A jury in Cincinnati recommended the death sentence for an Ohio inmate convicted of killing a prison guard
- MAY 16, 2003ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
Roel Goosen, 33, was sentenced to death by the Lusaka...
Roel Goosen, 33, was sentenced to death by the Lusaka High Court after he was convicted of killing Lillian Nkhata on August 30, 2001 during a prayer meeting in Lusaka's Barlastone area
- MAY 16, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
Sheldon Ward, 23, was sentenced to death for the kidnap-rape-slaying...
Sheldon Ward, 23, was sentenced to death for the kidnap-rape-slaying of Nyanuer "Mary" Pal on Valentine's Day 2002
- MAY 16, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two men on death row in Vietnam had their sentences...
Two men on death row in Vietnam had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong
- MAY 14, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A special court in Bangladesh sentenced to death 16...
A special court in Bangladesh sentenced to death 16 people for a grisly double murder in 2000 in which the victims' bodies were hacked to pieces
- MAY 14, 2003MissouriDEATH PENALTY
The minimum age at which committing murder could be...
The minimum age at which committing murder could be punished by death would rise to 17 from the current 16, under a change in state law endorsed by the Missouri Senate
- MAY 14, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
Derrick Dewayne Charles, 20, who confessed to strangling...
Derrick Dewayne Charles, 20, who confessed to strangling his teenage girlfriend, raping and strangling her mother and beating her grandfather to death was sentenced to death
- MAY 13, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Van Toai, a 64-year-old Vietnamese man from...
Nguyen Van Toai, a 64-year-old Vietnamese man from Nghe An province near the Lao border was sentenced to death by firing squad after being convicted of opium trafficking
- MAY 12, 2003BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
Two people were sentenced to death and another to life...
Two people were sentenced to death and another to life imprisonment for killing a young businessman in Bangladesh in 1999
- MAY 10, 2003YemenDEATH PENALTY
A court in Yemen sentenced Abed Abdulrazzak Kamel to...
A court in Yemen sentenced Abed Abdulrazzak Kamel to death for killing three Americans who worked at a Christian-run hospital in December 2002
- MAY 9, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Sultan Khan Osman Omrah, an Afghani convicted of drug...
Sultan Khan Osman Omrah, an Afghani convicted of drug trafficking, was publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia
- MAY 9, 2003AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Sultan Khan Osman Omrah, an Afghani convicted of drug...
Sultan Khan Osman Omrah, an Afghani convicted of drug trafficking, was publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia