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
FEBRUARY 23, 2026IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP COUPLE GETS DEATH FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 33 CHILDREN
A couple was sentenced to death on February 20, 2026 by a court in Uttar Pradesh after being convicted in a case of sexual assault of 33 children, some of them as young as three years old.
FEBRUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protests: 19-year-old Mohammad Amin Biglari sentenced to death
FEBRUARY 23, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - At least 10 men executed on February 23
FEBRUARY 19, 2026KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MACHARIA SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DEFILING, KILLING 7-YEAR-OLD TAMARA KABURA
Nyeri High Court on February 19, 2026 sentenced Nicholas Julius Macharia to death after he pleaded guilty to the brutal defilement and murder of seven-year-old Tamara Blessing Kabura.
FEBRUARY 19, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 26 Protesters Sentenced to Death, Hundreds More at Risk
FEBRUARY 18, 2026KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER STABBING FATHER OVER CIGARETTE ARGUMENT
A Pakistani man was sentenced to death on February 16, 2026 in Kuwait after being convicted of fatally stabbing his father during a domestic dispute in the Farwaniya Governorate.
FEBRUARY 17, 2026TaiwanDEATH PENALTYTAIWAN: FEMALE DRIVER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING POLICE STATION CHIEF
A female motorist who fatally dragged the head of a police station to his death while trying to evade a roadside check in 2024 was sentenced to death by the New Taipei District Court on February 11, 2026.
FEBRUARY 16, 2026IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR GANG RAPE OF ISRAELI TOURIST, MURDER NEAR HAMPI
A sessions court in Karnataka's Koppal district on February 16, 2026 sentenced three men to death after convicting them in the gang rape of two women, including an Israeli national, and the killing of a male tourist.
FEBRUARY 15, 2026BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: EX-MP AMONG SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ASHULIA CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CASE
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 on February 5, 2025 sentenced six people, including former Dhaka-19 lawmaker Md Saiful Islam, to death
FEBRUARY 15, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 7 death sentences were carried out on Feb. 15
Asghar Esmaeili, Vahid Karami, Einollah Rahimzadeh, Farzad Fazli, Davoud Ghafouri, Sadeq Manafi, Hassan Doosti
FEBRUARY 15, 2026FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Hundreds of women pledge allegiance to Wade Wilson
FEBRUARY 14, 2026SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MALAYSIAN MAN EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A Malaysian man convicted of trafficking a significant quantity of heroin was executed in Singapore on Feb. 11, 2026, according to an official statement issued by the Singapore authorities.
FEBRUARY 13, 2026United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - DPIC Report on “Women and the Death Penalty”
- FEBRUARY 12, 2026CanadaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA OVERTURNS DEATH SENTENCE FOR CANADIAN ROBERT SCHELLENBERG
China's Supreme People's Court on February 6, 2026 overturned the death sentence for accused Canadian drug smuggler Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian official told CBC News.
FEBRUARY 12, 2026SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: MILITARY COURT EXECUTES TWO MEN CONVICTED OF MULTIPLE KILLINGS IN MOGADISHU
Somalia’s Military Court on February 10, 2026 carried out the execution by firing squad of two men convicted of committing multiple killings in the capital, Mogadishu.
- FEBRUARY 11, 2026United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Federal Judge Blocks Transfer of Former Federally Death-Sentenced Prisoners to Supermax Prison
- FEBRUARY 8, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 9 men executed
FEBRUARY 6, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Naser Bekrzadeh Sentenced to Death for the Third Time
On charges of “espionage for Israel"
- FEBRUARY 4, 2026IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 6 people executed in recent days
Iraj Mostafavi, Bakhtiar Shahabi, Hassan Alaeibakhsh, Ali Mohammadpour, Mohammad Javad Namdari, Hashem Abbas
- FEBRUARY 3, 2026JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN: DEATH ROW INMATE WHO BURIED 2 MEN ALIVE IN 2006 FOUND DEAD IN CELL
A death row inmate convicted of killing two people by burying them alive in Okayama Prefecture in western Japan in 2006, died on January 31, 2026, the Justice Ministry said, with suicide being suspected.
FEBRUARY 2, 2026AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Victim’s Daughter and Juror Oppose Execution of Charles Burton
- FEBRUARY 1, 2026BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN NASHIT MURDER CASE
Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Feni on January 29, 2026 sentenced three persons to death for murder of 10-year-old boy Ahnaf Al Main alias Nashit and hiding his body.
JANUARY 30, 2026MissouriDEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Kenneth Lee Simpson sentenced to death
- JANUARY 29, 2026ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES 11 CRIMINALS LINKED TO MYANMAR-BASED GANGS
China has executed 11 people linked to online scam centres in Myanmar, according to state media, as Beijing toughens its crackdown on the illegal operations.
JANUARY 29, 2026ArizonaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Arizona. Franklin Arnett Clifton sentenced to death
- JANUARY 28, 2026BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 5 TO DIE FOR MURDER OF GOPALGANJ TRANSPORT UNION LEADER BASU
A Dhaka court on January 28, 2026 sentenced five people to death for the 2016 murder of Saidur Rahman Basu, a former president of the Gopalganj Motor Workers Union.
JANUARY 28, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamidreza Sabet Esmailpour executed in Ghezel-Hesar on January 28
On charges of “espionage for Israel”
JANUARY 28, 2026TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Charles Thompson, 55, White, was executed on January 28
JANUARY 28, 2026IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamidreza Sabet Esmaeilpour executed on January 28
On charges of “espionage for Israel”
JANUARY 26, 2026BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: EX-DMP CHIEF, TWO OTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER CHANKHARPUL KILLINGS
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on January 26, 2026 sentenced former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Habibur Rahman and two others to death for crimes against humanity over the killing of six people