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
DECEMBER 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Elias Raisi and Ayoub Rigi executed in Zahedan on December 24
DECEMBER 23, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Nizamuddin Burhanzahi executed in Iranshahr on December 23
DECEMBER 22, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 unidentified men executed in Shiraz on December 22
628 executions since the beginning of the year
DECEMBER 21, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING, KILLING WOMAN
A court in Haryana’s Sonipat on 19 December 2021 sentenced two men to death for raping and killing a woman five years ago.
DECEMBER 21, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hasan Firouzi, arrested during the protests, is in danger of execution
DECEMBER 20, 2022GambiaDEATH PENALTYGAMBIA: DRIVER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN UPPER RIVER REGION
Justice Landing M. Sanneh, the presiding Judge of the High Court in Basse, in the Upper River Region (URR) has sentenced Bakary Jallow, a driver by profession to death for reportedly killing one Alieu Sanyang, The Point reported on 20 December 2022.
DECEMBER 20, 2022LibyaDEATH PENALTYLIBYA: 17 FORMER IS MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Libyan court sentenced 17 former members of the Islamic State group to death, a statement from the country’s Tripoli-based top prosecutor said on 19 December 2022.
DECEMBER 19, 2022LebanonDEATH PENALTYLEBANON: DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR KILLER OF BRITISH WOMAN
A Lebanese court has upheld the death sentence for an Uber driver convicted of killing a British woman who worked for the U.K. Embassy in Beirut five years ago, the embassy said on December 16, 2022.
- DECEMBER 18, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: KANO CLERIC SHEIKH KABARA SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY
An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abduljabbar Kabara, was on 15 December 2022 sentenced to death by hanging by an Upper Shari’a Court sitting at Kofar Kudu in Kano State for alleged blasphemy.
DECEMBER 17, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Qasim Salarzahi and Aziz Gargij executed on December 17
619 executions in 2022
DECEMBER 15, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH ON TWO COUNTS IN RAPE-CUM-DOUBLE MURDER CASE
A Rawalpindi district and sessions court on 29 November 2022 handed down death penalty on two counts to an accused involved in a rape-cum-double murder case.
DECEMBER 14, 2022TaiwanDEATH PENALTYTAIWAN: MAN RECEIVES DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING CLERK WHO ASKED HIM TO MASK UP
A paper sculpture artist was handed the death penalty by Taoyuan District Court on 13 December 2022 for stabbing to death a convenience store clerk who asked him to wear a mask.
- DECEMBER 14, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: MAN WHO MURDERED WOMAN IN FRONT OF HER DAUGHTER SENTENCED TO DEATH
A stalker who tried to kidnap a woman to force her to marry him and then murdered her in front of her daughter and niece when she refused to go with him has been sentenced to death by hanging in Kuwait, Mirror reported on 14 December 2022.
DECEMBER 13, 2022EthiopiaDEATH PENALTYETHIOPIA: FEDERAL POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF SOMALI REGION MP
An Ethiopian federal police officer was sentenced to death on 12 December 2022 by a military court in Jigjiga for the shooting death of Somali region MP Juweria Subcis in late October.
DECEMBER 13, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Five Protestors Awaiting Execution in Karaj
Mohammad-Mehdi Karami, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, Hamid Ghara-Hasanlu and Hossein Mohammadi
- DECEMBER 13, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER RAPE, MURDER OF UNILORIN STUDENT
Justice Ibrahim Yusuf of Kwara State High Court on 13 December 2022 sentenced three persons to death by hanging over the rape and murder of a 300-level undergraduate of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Omowumi Olajide.
DECEMBER 12, 2022DEATH PENALTYIRAN - Protester Majidreza Rahnavard in Mashhad on December 12
DECEMBER 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saman Yasin, the rapper, sentenced to death.
DECEMBER 9, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN- Iran Human Rights Monitor Annual Report 2022
DECEMBER 8, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hamid Ghara-Hasanlu, a doctor, sentenced to death in protests
- DECEMBER 7, 2022VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: 3 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRANSPORTING 3KG OF METH
A court in the central Quang Tri Province sentenced three men to death on 29 November 2022 for sending three kilograms of methamphetamine through an express delivery company.
DECEMBER 7, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: 2 EXPATS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIVES
Two expatriate men, one of them still at large, have been sentenced to death by hanging in Kuwait for murdering their wives, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported.
DECEMBER 6, 2022TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: ELEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING CONSERVATIONIST
A court in Tanzania on 2 December 2022 sentenced 11 people to death over the 2017 murder of renowned anti-poaching activist Wayne Lotter.
DECEMBER 6, 2022Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: SIX MORE POLITICAL DISSIDENTS SENTENCED TO DEATH
A human rights organization says the Saudi judiciary has sentenced six more prisoners of conscience to death, Press TV’s website reported on 5 December 2022.
DECEMBER 5, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death sentences for protesters
DECEMBER 5, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: CULTIST SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING IN EKITI
An Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado Ekiti, has sentenced one Segun Iwaetan, to death by hanging for being a cultist and raping a 20-year-old virgin, Daily Post reported on 5 December 2022.
DECEMBER 2, 2022MississippiDEATH PENALTYUSA - Mississippi. Martez Abram sentenced to death
NOVEMBER 30, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH BY ODISHA COURT FOR RAPING, KILLING 8-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Two persons were sentenced to death by a fast-track court in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district on 29 November 2022 for raping and killing an eight-year-old girl.
NOVEMBER 30, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Iran sentences 4 people to death for ‘cooperating’ with Israel
Maybe even executed
NOVEMBER 28, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN TRIPURA FOR KILLING FIVE INCLUDING TWO MINOR DAUGHTERS
A Tripura court on 23 November 2022 sentenced a person to death after he was convicted of murdering five persons including his two minor daughters, his brother, another person and a police officer at Ramchandraghat in Khowai district of Agartala a year ag