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 7, 2022Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA RELEASES SHIA MINOR AFTER COMMUTING HIS DEATH SENTENCE
Saudi Arabia on 2 February 2022 freed Dawoud Al-Marhoon who had previously been sentenced to death for protesting while he was a minor.
FEBRUARY 7, 2022EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: TWO BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING THEIR FATHER
Two Egyptian brothers have been sentenced to death for killing their father after learning about him raping their sister (his daughter), Gulf News reported on 5 February 2022 citing local news.
- FEBRUARY 6, 2022BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: TWO POLICE OFFICERS SENT TO GALLOWS FOR KILLING EX-ARMY MAJOR
A Bangladeshi court on 31 January 2022 handed down the death penalty to two policemen and life term to seven other officers on charges of killing an ex-army major in a “pre-planned” attack in Cox’s Bazar, a sea-side resort town, in 2020.
FEBRUARY 6, 2022IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Babak Rezaei wrongly executed in 2018
For murders Behzad Tahmtan received the death penalty for
FEBRUARY 3, 2022NigerDEATH PENALTYNIGER: TWO ALGERIANS SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 2013 AREVA ATTACK
At the end of December, the Niamey Court of Appeal handed down two death sentences and five acquittals.
FEBRUARY 2, 2022EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER RAPING, MURDERING OWN MOTHER
A man has been sentenced to death after raping and murdering his own mother in Tanta, Egypt, The Filipino Times reported on 31 January 2022.
FEBRUARY 2, 2022SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: PUNTLAND SENTENCES SIX MILITANTS TO DEATH AND JAIL TERMS FOR SERIAL KILLINGS
A military court in Somalia’s Puntland state has sentenced four men to death and two others to jail terms following a trial that substantiated their links to Al-Shabaab militants, Garowe online reported on 1 February 2022.
FEBRUARY 1, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: 4 ROBBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN KANO FOR MURDER
Four armed robbery suspects have been sentenced to death by hanging by a Kano High Court presided by Justice Nasiru Saminu, The Sun reported on 30 January 2022.
FEBRUARY 1, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 488 CONVICTS ON DEATH ROW AT THE END OF 2021
There are about 488 convicts on death row across India at the end of December 2021, the highest since 2004.
- JANUARY 31, 2022Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DRC: 51 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MURDER OF UN EXPERTS BY A MILITARY COURT
A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced 51 people to death on 29 January 2022, several in absentia, as well as a 10-year prison term and two acquittals in a mass trial over the 2017 killing of two UN experts in Kasai, central DRC.
JANUARY 31, 2022EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 10 SENTENCED TO DEATH ON CHARGES OF PLANNING ATTACKS
An Egyptian court on 30 January 2022 sentenced to death 10 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood group for coordinating and planning attacks on the police, the state-news agency MENA has reported.
JANUARY 31, 2022TennesseeDEATH PENALTYUSA - Tennessee. Pervis Payne Resentenced to Concurrent Life Terms
Eligible for Parole in Five Years After 34 Years on Death Row
JANUARY 30, 2022Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTYMYANMAR: MORE THAN 100 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN YANGON SINCE COUP
Myanmar’s junta has condemned more than 100 people to death in the Yangon region alone since it seized power a year ago, Radio Free Asia reported on 27 January 2022.
JANUARY 27, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: KARACHI MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN WIFE’S MURDER CASE
A model court has handed down death sentence to a man for burning his wife to death over a domestic dispute, Dawn reported on 26 January 2022.
JANUARY 27, 2022IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: BIHAR POSCO COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR RAPE OF SIX-YEAR-OLD
A special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on 26 January 2022 sentenced a 48-year-old man to death for the rape of a six-year-old girl in Bihar’s Araria.
JANUARY 27, 2022United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Capital Punishment, 2020 Statistics
Death Row Below 2,500 First Time in 29 Years
JANUARY 26, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE, THREE CHILDREN
An antiterrorism court on 20 January 2022 awarded death sentence to a convict for murdering his wife, two minor children and a minor brother-in-law over domestic issues in 2017.
JANUARY 26, 2022BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDER AFTER RAPE
A Chattogram court on 20 January 2022 sentenced a man to death for killing a woman after rape at Sitakunda upazila in Chattogram in 2017.
- JANUARY 26, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Brothers Yasser and Younes Nourizadeh Receive Death Penalty
For Drug Offences
JANUARY 25, 2022KenyaDEATH PENALTYKENYA: MAN WHO VIOLENTLY STOLE PHONES, CASH SENTENCED TO DEATH
A man accused of using excessive force to steal mobile phones and some cash from two city businessmen has been sentenced to death, Nairobi News reported on 21 January 2022.
JANUARY 25, 2022BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 5 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WOMAN IN MADARIPUR
A Madaripur court on 24 January 2022 sentenced five people to death for killing a housewife at the Rajoir upazila of the district in 2002.
JANUARY 24, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: BENUE STATE GOVERNOR ORTOM GRANTS AMNESTY TO 50 CONVICTS
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has granted amnesty to 50 convicts serving various jail terms across the country.
- JANUARY 24, 2022Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
MYANMAR: TWO PROMINENT ACTIVISTS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Two prominent political activists in military-ruled Myanmar have been sentenced to death on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities, a military television station reported 21 January 2022.
- JANUARY 20, 2022United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UAE: DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD FOR DRUG ADDICT ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS FATHER WITH 36 STAB WOUNDS
The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation has upheld the death sentence for an Emirati man convicted of the premeditated murder of his father.
- JANUARY 20, 2022IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 men executed in Zabol on January 20
Parviz Akbari Rud, Jamaleddin Gorgij and Dadshah Sarani
JANUARY 20, 2022PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TEXTING CARICATURES OF PROPHET
A Muslim woman was sentenced to death in Pakistan on 19 January 2022 after being convicted of sending a blasphemous text message and caricatures of Prophet Muhammad via WhatsApp, a court said.
JANUARY 19, 2022SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: SOLDIER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING YOUNG SIBLINGS
The military court of the Somali Armed Forces on 4 January 2022 sentenced to death a soldier for the murder of two siblings Zakariye and Sowdo.
JANUARY 19, 2022ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: 2 TO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING DRUGS TO TAIWAN
A Chinese court has sentenced 2 people to death for attempting to smuggle 400 kilograms of methamphetamine by sea from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, state media reported on 12 January 2022.
JANUARY 18, 2022NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: PRISONS IN 10 STATES HOLD 80% OF COUNTRY’S DEATH ROW INMATES
Correctional centers across Nigeria house 3,602 death-row inmates, based on data obtained by the Premium Times newspaper.
JANUARY 18, 2022Papua New GuineaDEATH PENALTYPAPUA NEW GUINEA: PRIME MINISTER JAMES MARAPE SAYS HIS GOVERNMENT IS DOING AWAY WITH THE DEATH PENALTY
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says his government is doing away with the death penalty and those now on death row will instead serve life sentences without parole, PNG newspaper The National reported on 12 January 2022.