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
- APRIL 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In April, a court sentenced restaurant owner Chi Jianguo...
In April, a court sentenced restaurant owner Chi Jianguo to death for poisoning the donkey soup at a nearby rival's eatery and making 148 people ill
- MARCH 26, 1999TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
On March 26, the Supreme Court sentenced Mizomuddin...
On March 26, the Supreme Court sentenced Mizomuddin Valiyev, Saidrakhmon Davuvoz and Yakub Darveshev to death by firing squad
- MARCH 15, 1999JordanDEATH PENALTY
On March 15, a military tribunal sentenced to death...
On March 15, a military tribunal sentenced to death by hanging Mohammad Jaghameen, 35, and Ahmad Subuh, 34, who remains a fugitive, for a killing spree that left more than 10 people dead in 1998
- MARCH 14, 1999KyrgyzstanDEATH PENALTY
On March 14, a court sentenced Pavel Gorobets to death...
On March 14, a court sentenced Pavel Gorobets to death for murdering and dismembering one of his tenants, Viktor Grekhovodov, in December 1997, and his girlfriend Valentina Kashina, in March 1998 before eating their flesh
- MARCH 11, 1999RwandaDEATH PENALTY
On March 11, a military court in Rwanda upheld the...
On March 11, a military court in Rwanda upheld the death penalty on Pierre Bizimana, an officer in the former Rwandan army, and Martin Kageruka, a doctor, for the murder of Queen Rosalia Gicanda and her family, as well as other genocidal crimes in July 19
- MARCH 1, 1999LebanonDEATH PENALTY
In March, Jean Yusuf Chahin, who arrrived in Australia...
In March, Jean Yusuf Chahin, who arrrived in Australia two years ago on a holiday visa and has applied for residency in Australia as a refugee, was sentenced to death for 9 alleged assassinations and the bombing of a church in Lebanon
- JANUARY 28, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 28, Yibulayin Simayi, 42, and Abudureyimu...
On January 28, Yibulayin Simayi, 42, and Abudureyimu Aisha, 29, were executed after a public sentencing by the Yili Prefecture Intermediate People's Court
- JANUARY 26, 1999Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
On January 26, the Privy Council ruled on constitutional...
On January 26, the Privy Council ruled on constitutional motions brought by Darrin Roger Thomas and Haniff Hilaire, who were both under sentence of death in Trinidad and Tobago, stating "that to carry out the death sentences imposed on the men before the
- JANUARY 25, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 25, the No
On January 25, the No
- JANUARY 15, 1999BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
On January 15, Gwara Brown Motswetla, 28, and Tlhabologang...
On January 15, Gwara Brown Motswetla, 28, and Tlhabologang Phetolo Maauwe, 30, two men condemned to death in 1995, won an eleventh hour stay of execution because Justice Reynolds in an interim ruling said that the 4-year delay in carrying out the sentence
- JANUARY 12, 1999MaliDEATH PENALTY
On January 12, the Bamako Criminal Court ruled that...
On January 12, the Bamako Criminal Court ruled that Mali's ousted dictator, Moussa Traorè, his wife Mariam and her brother Abramane Doua Cissoko were guilty of illegally enriching themselves from state coffers to the tune of 202 million CFA francs ($357,5
- JANUARY 5, 1999TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
On January 5, the Supreme Court sentenced former military...
On January 5, the Supreme Court sentenced former military officer Sharif Sharipov to death by shooting after finding him guilty of organizing a terrorist group and the premeditated murder of dozens of people
- JANUARY 1, 1999BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Reports claim that at least 13 people were sentenced...
Reports claim that at least 13 people were sentenced to death in 1998 after all were convicted of premeditated murder
- JANUARY 1, 1999Bosnia & HerzegovinaDEATH PENALTY
War crimes and genocide are capital crimes
War crimes and genocide are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 1999PakistanDEATH PENALTY
In 1997, the Nawaz Sharif Government introduced the...
In 1997, the Nawaz Sharif Government introduced the death penalty for rapists charged with attacking children under 10 years, and said such cases should be tried in the special courts set up under the anti-terrorism laws
- JANUARY 1, 1999Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTY
Murder, aggravated robbery and treason are capital crimes
Murder, aggravated robbery and treason are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Capital punishment in America is some sort of idiosyncratic...
Capital punishment in America is some sort of idiosyncratic lottery
- JANUARY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The results of two new studies underscore the continuing...
The results of two new studies underscore the continuing injustice of racism in the application of the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
With 84 inmates released from death rows because of...
With 84 inmates released from death rows because of innocence, growing doubts about how the death penalty is applied have prompted some state lawmakers to call for a moratorium on executions to study whether the system is working fairly