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
NOVEMBER 12, 2023BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: TWO GET DEATH FOR MURDERING HOUSEWIFE IN MANIKGANJ
A court in Bangladesh on November 8, 2023 handed down the death penalty to two people for murdering a housewife in Manikganj in 2020.
NOVEMBER 9, 2023TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Brent Brewer, 53, White, was executed
NOVEMBER 9, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 65-YR-OLD GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE, MURDER OF MINOR
The Special POCSO Court on November 7, 2023 awarded death sentence to a 65-year-old man accused of rape and murder in Uttar Pradesh.
NOVEMBER 8, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Khodadad Rahimi and Saber Alikhani executed in Kashan on November 8
NOVEMBER 7, 2023PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Muzaffargarh Additional District and Sessions Judge Tariq Maqsood sentenced a man to death for murder and imposed a fine of Rs500,000, Dawn reported on November 4, 2023.
NOVEMBER 6, 2023BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 2 MEN GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING THEIR WIVES
Two men were handed the death penalty on October 30, 2023 in Natore and Sirajganj on charges of killing their wives.
- NOVEMBER 5, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: FATHER OF 7 SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR KIDNAPPING IN AKWA IBOM
One Pius Udo Ben, a father of seven from Ikot Use Ekong in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has been sentenced to death for kidnapping a four year old boy who has not been found till date, Daily Post reported on November 1st 2023.
NOVEMBER 5, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ghasem Abasteh, a Kurdish-Sunni political prisoner, executed in Ghezel Hesar on November 5
NOVEMBER 3, 2023AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Jury sentences LaJeromeny Brown to death
NOVEMBER 3, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jamshid Sharmahd in Critical Health Condition
A German-Iranian man living in the USA
NOVEMBER 2, 2023PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: THREE GET DEATH SENTENCE IN FIVE PEOPLE'S MURDER CASE
Three men were sentenced to death on five counts each in a case involving the murder of five people in Barki area, Dunya News reported on October 31, 2023.
NOVEMBER 2, 2023BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: TOP COURT COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCES OF 7 MILITANTS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR 2016 CAFE ATTACK
Bangladesh’s High Court on October 30, 2023 commuted the death sentences of seven Islamic militants to life in prison for their role in a 2016 attack on a cafe in the capital, Dhaka, that killed 20 people, mostly foreigners.
NOVEMBER 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 women and a man sentenced to death for adultery
Leila Khalghi Sakachayi, Mitra … and Abolfazl Barat Vakili
NOVEMBER 2, 2023North CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - North Carolina. W. D. Buckman sentenced to death
OCTOBER 31, 2023PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. House panel votes to abolish death penalty
OCTOBER 30, 2023IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDONESIA: 8 IRANIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
An Indonesian court on October 27, 2023 ordered that eight Iranian nationals be executed for smuggling more than 700 pounds (300 kg) of crystal methamphetamine by sea into Java.
OCTOBER 30, 2023ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN WHO WENT ON STABBING SPREE IN SHANGHAI SENTENCED TO DEATH
Hou Xiaofei, the man who went on a stabbing spree and injured 15 people in a hospital in Shanghai last summer, was sentenced to death by the Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court on October 27, 2023.
OCTOBER 29, 2023BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2016 MURDER OF PREGNANT HABIGANJ HOUSEWIFE
A court in Bangladesh on October 26, 2023 sentenced five members of a family to death for the murder of Ayesha Akhtar in Habiganj’s Chunarughat.
OCTOBER 28, 2023QatarDEATH PENALTYQATAR: 8 INDIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH ON CHARGES OF SPYING FOR ISRAEL
Qatar sentenced eight Indian former naval officers to death on October 26, 2023 after finding them guilty of spying for Israel on the Gulf state’s submarine programme.
OCTOBER 25, 2023Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTYMYANMAR: JUNTA SENTENCES 7 MEN TO DEATH IN AYEYARWADY REGION
Myanmar’s military regime sentenced seven men in Ayeyarwady region to death, Pyapon township residents told Radio Free Asia over the weekend.
OCTOBER 25, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hayatollah Eiduzehi executed in Kerman on October 25
OCTOBER 25, 2023PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: RAPIST, KILLER OF YOUNG GIRL SENTENCED TO DEATH ON THREE COUNTS
Peshawar Judge of Child Protection Court, Hina Mehwish, on October 19, 2023 awarded three death sentences and a fine of Rs one million to an accused for molesting and later burning the body of an eight-year-old girl.
OCTOBER 25, 2023OhioDEATH PENALTYUSA - Ohio. Michael R. Turner to now serve life without parole
Has been on death row since 2002
- OCTOBER 23, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: BRITISH MOTHER SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER MURDERING HER SIKH HUSBAND
A British mother has been sentenced to death in India after she brutally murdered her husband in front of their nine-year-old son with the help of her lover, Daily Mail reported on October 17, 2023.
- OCTOBER 23, 2023BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: FATHER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHATTOGRAM FOR RAPING DAUGHTER
A Chattogram court on October 19, 2023 sentenced a father to death for raping his own daughter.
OCTOBER 22, 2023BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE MURDER OF HIS THREE-YEAR-OLD SON
The Minsk regional Court in Belarus on October 19, 2023 reportedly sentenced to death Alexander Taratuta, 48, for the murder of his three-year-old son Semyon
- OCTOBER 22, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Davoud Heidari executed in Karaj on October 22
OCTOBER 19, 2023BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
A court in Chuadanga on October 5, 2023 sentenced a man to death on the charge of killing his wife in Alamdanga upazila of the district.
OCTOBER 19, 2023IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 3 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING THREE CHILDREN IN UP
A court in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh on October 18, 2023 sentenced three persons to death for killing three children, aged between seven and nine, more than four years ago.
- OCTOBER 18, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Khodabakhsh … executed in Zahedan on October 18