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
JUNE 13, 2022EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING PRIEST IN ALEXANDRIA
An Alexandria Criminal Court sentenced on 11 June 2022 a 60-year-old man to death for murdering Coptic Orthodox priest Arsanios Wadid last month in the Egyptian coastal city.
- JUNE 12, 2022UkraineDEATH PENALTY
TWO BRITONS, MOROCCAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN SEPARATIST-HELD UKRAINE
Two British citizens and a Moroccan were sentenced to death on 9 June 2022 for fighting on Ukraine’s side, in a punishment handed down by the country’s pro-Moscow rebels.
- JUNE 12, 2022United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UAE: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING GIRLFRIEND
An Asian man was handed a death sentence by the Umm Al Quwain Misdemeanour Court for killing his girlfriend on 1 June 2022.
- JUNE 8, 2022BarbadosDEATH PENALTY
BARBADOS APPEAL COURT VACATES DEATH SENTENCE ON MAN CONVICTED FOR FIRE AT A STORE THAT KILLED SIX WOMEN
The Court of Appeal in Barbados has ruled that Jamar Dwayne Bynoe, who was previously been sentenced to death by hanging for his role in the 2010 fire at a store that resulted in the deaths of six women, return to the High Court for sentencing.
JUNE 8, 2022BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 6 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DOUBLE MURDER IN NARAYANGANJ
A Narayanganj tribunal on 6 June 2022 sentenced six people to death for killing a couple in 2009.
- JUNE 7, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Death sentence against man who killed 2 clerics
- JUNE 6, 2022Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
MYANMAR: JUNTA SAYS WILL CARRY OUT FIRST JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS IN DECADES
Myanmar's junta will execute a former member of Aung San Suu Kyi's party and a prominent democracy activist, both of whom were convicted of terrorism, in the country's first judicial executions since 1990.
JUNE 6, 2022Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTYTRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
The High Court of Trinidad and Tobago on 2 June 2022 sentenced to death two brothers after they were both found guilty of murdering a man and attempting to kill the victim’s brother and cousin 12 years ago.
- JUNE 3, 2022North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
USA - North Carolina. Joshua Lee Burgess sentenced to death
JUNE 1, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: COP SENTENCED TO DEATH, ANOTHER GETS LIFE TERM FOR MURDERING TEENAGE STUDENT
A district court on 30 May 2022 awarded capital punishment to a police constable and life imprisonment to a volunteer cop for the Police Qaumi Razakar (PQR) for murdering a teenage student and wounding another in an alleged fake encounter in Gulshan-e-Iqb
- MAY 31, 2022PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. Judge Edward Guido formally sentenced Davone Anderson to death on May 31, 2022
MAY 31, 2022IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: COURT SENTENCES ISIS PLOTTER OF 2021 BAGHDAD MARKET BOMBING TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 30 May 2022 sentenced to death an ISIS group member convicted of plotting a 2021 bomb attack that killed 32 people in a crowded Baghdad market.
MAY 31, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: TWO EKITI MEN TO DIE BY HANGING FOR ROBBING 53-YEAR-OLD LECTURER
An Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado Ekiti, has sentenced 36-year-old Fakorede Olawale and 39-year-old Tunji Olaitan to death for armed robbery, Punch reported on 31 May 2022.
MAY 30, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DIE BY HANGING FOR KILLING PREGNANT WIFE
A 52-year-old Nigerian man, Nkereuwem Etim Emah, on 27 May 2022 was sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of his pregnant wife.
MAY 28, 2022Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTYDR CONGO: SOLDIERS, CIVILIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SELLING ARMS
A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has sentenced to death eight soldiers and three civilians for selling arms to a violent rebel group.
MAY 28, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: AN ETHIOPIAN IS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING AN INDIAN COLLEAGUE
The Ethiopian woman who stabbed her Indian colleague to death has been sentenced to death by the Court of Appeals, Kuwaitlocal reported on 27 May 2022.
MAY 25, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SPECIAL CBI COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY TO MAIN ACCUSED SURINDER KOLI IN NITHARI CASE
The main accused in the Nithari killings, Surinder Koli, on 19 May 2022 was awarded the death penalty by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad.
- MAY 24, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Wife of Djalali pleads for EU action
Vida Mehrannia
MAY 24, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP GANGSTERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN SENSATIONAL NIA OFFICER, WIFE'S MURDER
A court in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district on 20 May 2022 sentenced two gangsters to death for murdering an NIA officer and his wife six years ago.
MAY 23, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: DANISH MAN SENTENCED TO DIE FOR KILLING WIFE, DAUGHTER
A Nigerian court on 20 May 2022 sentenced a Danish man to death after finding him guilty of killing his wife, a Nigerian, and his 3-year-old daughter at their residence in the West African country in 2018.
MAY 23, 2022BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 1971 WAR CRIMES IN MOULVIBAZAR
A court in Bangladesh has sentenced three people to death for murder, rape and other crimes against humanity in Moulvibazar’s Barlekha during the 1971 Liberation War, bdnews24 reported on 19 May 2022.
MAY 18, 2022BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING TODDLER IN CHITTAGONG
A Chittagong court on 18 May 2022 sentenced three people to death for killing a two-year-old boy in 2020.
MAY 17, 2022AlgeriaDEATH PENALTYALGERIA: EX-ARMY CHIEF'S ALLY SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ‘TREASON’
An Algerian military officer and close ally of the former army chief has been sentenced to death over charges of “high treason”, the French-language daily El Watan reported on 15 May 2022.
- MAY 15, 2022Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DR CONGO: POLICEMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST FLORIBERT CHEBEYA
A Congolese military court on 11 May 2022 sentenced a high-ranking policeman to death for his role in the 2010 murder of human rights activist Floribert Chebeya, which caused national outrage.
MAY 14, 2022PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Davone Anderson sentenced to death
- MAY 13, 2022OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Oklahoma. David Ware sentenced to death
- MAY 12, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR GANG RAPE, MURDER BY BIHAR COURT
A court in Bihar’s Supaul on 11 May 2022 sentenced to death four persons convicted in a 2019 gang rape and murder case.
- MAY 12, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: FENIL GOYANI SENTENCED TO DEATH IN GRISHMA VEKARIYA MURDER CASE
The Surat sessions court on 5 May 2022 awarded death sentence to Fenil Goyani (20) for the murder of 21-year-old college student Grishma Vekariya outside her house at Pasodara area of Surat in February.
MAY 12, 2022BotswanaDEATH PENALTYBOTSWANA: HERDER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR WOMAN'S HACKING
A 27-year-old man of Sefhophe village was on 11 May 2022 sentenced to death for hacking the wife of his employer to death with an axe.
- MAY 10, 2022PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. Davone Anderson sentenced to death
On May 10