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
- OCTOBER 9, 2002BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A special court sentenced to death all the four accused...
A special court sentenced to death all the four accused in the Mahima kidnap and rape case, setting another example of quick dispensation of justice
- OCTOBER 8, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Two lovers, Fatima Usman and Ahmed Ibrahim, convicted...
Two lovers, Fatima Usman and Ahmed Ibrahim, convicted to death for adultery in a Niger State Sharia court are to remain in jail following the adjournment of their bail hearing to October 22
- OCTOBER 5, 2002TennesseeDEATH PENALTY
A Cocke County Circuit Court jury returned a death...
A Cocke County Circuit Court jury returned a death sentence against Jonathan Stephenson, 38, convicted 12 years ago of murdering his wife
- OCTOBER 4, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Criminal Court sentenced a man to death after he...
The Criminal Court sentenced a man to death after he was convicted of possessing more than Bt2
- OCTOBER 1, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
Nine gangsters were sentenced to death
Nine gangsters were sentenced to death
- OCTOBER 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in Tehran sentenced two more men to death for...
A court in Tehran sentenced two more men to death for a series of rapes
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2002BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Bangladesh condemned three men to death...
A court in Bangladesh condemned three men to death for the murder of a ten-year-old schoolgirl
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2002JapanDEATH PENALTY
Kenji Yokota, 53, was sentenced to death by the Tokyo...
Kenji Yokota, 53, was sentenced to death by the Tokyo High Court for strangling a female acquaintance in 1999
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The China Youth Daily reported that a leader of a village...
The China Youth Daily reported that a leader of a village in Hebei province was sentenced to death for trying to kill a man who defeated him in a village election
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A court in eastern China sentenced to death the owner...
A court in eastern China sentenced to death the owner of a fast-food outlet for poisoning snacks at a competitor's shop, causing the death of dozens of people
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2002LebanonDEATH PENALTY
Badie Hamadeh was sentenced to death for shooting dead...
Badie Hamadeh was sentenced to death for shooting dead three security officers
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
The Kenya Human Rights Commission released a report...
The Kenya Human Rights Commission released a report on the Human Rights situation in the country stating that there had been more than 1,500 cases of violence and human rights violations reported countrywide in the first three months of the year
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2002AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The plight of a mother sentenced to death by stoning...
The plight of a mother sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in Nigeria drew bipartisan condemnation from female MPs in the New South Wales parliament
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The plight of a mother sentenced to death by stoning...
The plight of a mother sentenced to death by stoning for adultery in Nigeria drew bipartisan condemnation from female MPs in the New South Wales parliament
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A female Russian citizen was sentenced to death in...
A female Russian citizen was sentenced to death in China's Yongan province for drug smuggling
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Yelena Timchenko, a female of Russian citizenship,...
Yelena Timchenko, a female of Russian citizenship, was sentenced to death in China's Yongan province for drug smuggling, a report from the Russian Foreign Ministry revealed
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2002United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
Three Indians were sentenced to death by a Dubai court...
Three Indians were sentenced to death by a Dubai court for possessing and dealing in drugs
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Yelena Timchenko, a female of Russian citizenship,...
Yelena Timchenko, a female of Russian citizenship, was sentenced to death in China's Yongan province for drug smuggling, a report from the Russian Foreign Ministry revealed
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had expressed...
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had expressed to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo his concern over the case of a mother sentenced to death by stoning for adultery
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002KenyaDEATH PENALTY
David Ouma Onyango was sentenced to death by Kisumu...
David Ouma Onyango was sentenced to death by Kisumu Senior Principal Magistrate, Mrs Olga Aketch Sewe, for violently robbing Bon Murindu Odhiambo, director of Skylark Rural Credit Company
- SEPTEMBER 23, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had expressed...
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he had expressed to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo his concern over the case of a mother sentenced to death by stoning for adultery
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002PakistanDEATH PENALTY
The Anti-Terrorism Court in Khuzdar, Pakistan passed...
The Anti-Terrorism Court in Khuzdar, Pakistan passed the death sentence on 12 people, eight of them in absentia, for the murder of a tribal chief and two companions
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
A painter was sentenced to death by the High Court...
A painter was sentenced to death by the High Court in Ipoh, Malysia for trafficking in 420gm of ganja
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2002BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
A court in Bangladesh condemned an 18-year-old man...
A court in Bangladesh condemned an 18-year-old man to death for raping and killing an eight-year-old girl
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2002TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme court of Tajikistan sentenced to death...
The Supreme court of Tajikistan sentenced to death a man convicted of killing his two children
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Governor Ahmed Sani of Nigeria's northern state of...
Governor Ahmed Sani of Nigeria's northern state of Zamfara, who pioneered the introduction of the Sharia Islamic legal code in the country, downplayed Italy's recent honour of a Nigerian woman who was sentenced to death for adultery
- SEPTEMBER 13, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian government pledged that no woman would...
The Nigerian government pledged that no woman would be sentenced to death by stoning under the country's laws
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2002VirginiaDEATH PENALTY
In arguments before the Virginia Supreme Court in Richmond,...
In arguments before the Virginia Supreme Court in Richmond, a group of newspapers joined with an inmate-aid organization and asked the state's highest court to allow DNA testing that could show whether a convicted killer executed a decade ago was, in fact
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2002JordanDEATH PENALTY
A 30-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to death...
A 30-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to death by the Criminal Court on conviction of killing an on-duty police officer and injuring several others in a series of four armed robberies taking place in September 1998
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerian Foreign Minister Sule Lamido has added to...
Nigerian Foreign Minister Sule Lamido has added to the controversy over the Islamic legal code, Sharia, being practised in parts of the country by describing the law as "competent and right"