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
- OCTOBER 21, 2021GambiaDEATH PENALTY
GAMBIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
One Momodou Korka Jallow on 21 October 2021 was sentenced to death in Gambia by the High Court, presided over by Justice Sainabou W. Cisse after he was convicted of murder.
OCTOBER 21, 2021AlabamaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Alabama. Willie Smith was executed
8th inmate to be put to death in the USA this year
OCTOBER 20, 2021ZimbabweDEATH PENALTYZIMBABWE: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HIS EMPLOYEE
A High Court judge on 18 October 2021 sentenced a Hwedza man to death for the murder of his employer in 2015 and throwing the body into Rhodesville Dam.
OCTOBER 20, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MYMENSINGH MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MOTHER’S MURDER
A Mymensingh court on 11 October 2021 sentenced 50-year-old Md Mustafa to death for the murder of his mother, 70-year-old Mariam Begum.
OCTOBER 19, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: THREE CONVICTS IN GANG RAPE AND MURDER CASE SENTENCED TO DEATH TWICE
In the case of gang rape and murder, three convicts were sentenced to death two times and fined Rs. 5 lakh, Pothwar reported on 16 October 2021.
OCTOBER 19, 2021MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: MOTHER OF NINE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG POSSESSION AND DISTRIBUTION
A single mother of nine children was given the mandatory death penalty by the Tawau High Court in Sabah, Malaysia, on 15 October 2021 for drug distribution charges.
OCTOBER 18, 2021JordanDEATH PENALTYJORDAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING SISTER IN NAME OF ‘FAMILY HONOUR’
The Court of Cassation on 17 October 2021 upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to death after convicting him of murdering his married sister in the Jordan Valley in October 2019.
OCTOBER 14, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MAN WHO SET FIRE ON LIVESTREAMING EX-WIFE
A man was sentenced to death by a court in southwest China on 14 October 2021 for dousing his ex-wife with gasoline and setting her on fire after she refused to get back with him.
OCTOBER 14, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: JHAJJAR MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR HONOUR KILLING
A court in the Indian state of Haryana on 12 October 2021 awarded death sentence to a man for the murder of three members of his sister-in-law’s family for ‘honour’ in 2016 in Kharkhoda of Sonepat.
- OCTOBER 12, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR BEHEADING MOM
A court in Pudukottai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on 1st October 2021 sentenced a man to death for beheading his mother over a family dispute.
OCTOBER 12, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Urgent: Juvenile Offender Arman Abdolali Scheduled to be Executed in 24 Hours
OCTOBER 12, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 5 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF COLLEGE STUDENT
A court in Bangladesh on 12 October 2021 sentenced five people to death and acquitted nine others in a case filed for killing of college student Raju Ahmmed in Rajshahi.
- OCTOBER 11, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: DAESH'S 'SHARIA JUDGE' SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Iraqi court on 21 June 2021 handed a death sentence to Daesh's "Sharia judge" after convicting him of killing 5 security forces in the country.
- OCTOBER 11, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR KILLING 2 WOMEN IN KOGI
A High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, on 29 September 2021 sentenced a middle-aged man, Danladi Ichado to death by hanging for stabbing two women to death.
- OCTOBER 9, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: MAN GETS DEATH OVER 2017 COCAINE HAUL IN KHULNA
A Khulna court on 8 October 2021 awarded the death penalty unto a man in a 2017 narcotics case filed over the recovery of contraband cocaine worth around Tk22 crore.
OCTOBER 7, 2021United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTYUAE: FIVE MEN GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER OF BUSINESSMAN IN AJMAN
The Ajman Criminal Court on 4 October 2021 sentenced five Asians to death for the premeditated murder of an Asian businessman and for stealing Dh109,000 from his apartment in Ajman.
- OCTOBER 5, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN CHURCH HOSTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
The Saviour’s Church in Lahore played host to a street play highlighting the plight of families of death row prisoners, kick-starting the awareness campaign for the World Day Against the Death Penalty observed every Oct. 10.
OCTOBER 5, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MIZAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR CTG COURT BOMBING
Chattogram Anti-Terrorism Tribunal on 3 October 2021 awarded death sentence to Zahidul Islam Mizan alias "Boma Mizan" in a case filed over killing two people in a suicide bombing on a police check-post on the premises of a Chattogram court in 2005.
OCTOBER 5, 2021MissouriDEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Ernest Johnson executed
Despite pleas for clemency for intellectual disability
OCTOBER 4, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR THE RAPE AND MURDER OF HIS 5-MONTH-OLD NIECE
A man in Lucknow, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on 29 September 2021 was sentenced to death by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court for the rape and murder of his five-month-and-thirteen-days-old niece.
OCTOBER 4, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 3 MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
An Egyptian court on 28 September 2021 sentenced three members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death and nine to life in prison over killing a policeman and a civilian, state-run MENA news agency reported.
- OCTOBER 3, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FORMER PRESTIGIOUS COLLEGE ALUMNI SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR BRUTALLY KILLING HIS MOTHER
A young man who murdered his mother in 2015, a high-profile case as he was a student at the prestigious Peking University, was sentenced to death by a court in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province, on 26 August 2021.
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2021TanzaniaDEATH PENALTY
TANZANIA: TRIO SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MURDER CASE
Three people have been sentenced to death after they were found guilty of killing four people, Daily News reported on 29 September 2021.
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: BUS SUPERVISOR GETS DEATH PENALTY IN DRUG CASE IN GAIBANDHA
A Gaibandha court on 17 August 2021 morning sentenced a man to death in a case over his involvement in smuggling heroin.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021MississippiDEATH PENALTYUSA - Mississippi. Sherwood Brown Exonerated
186th Death-Row Exoneration Since 1973
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 26-YEAR-OLD MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE-MURDER OF MINOR GIRL
A 26-year-old man was on 27 September 2021 awarded a death sentence in the Indian state of Rajasthan for raping an eight-year-old child and strangling her.
- SEPTEMBER 29, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: THREE GET DEATH FOR GANG RAPE IN KASUR
A gender-based violence court in Kasur on 5 August 2021 awarded death sentence to three people in the gang rape of a mentally-challenged minor girl.
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: WOMAN AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR CLAIMING TO BE PROPHET
A Lahore district court on 27 September 2021 awarded death sentence to a woman for claiming to be a prophet.
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: THREE MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER IN IRAQI KURDISTAN
A court in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on 2 August 2021 sentenced three people to death for the murder of a leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (DPIK).
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2021Papua New GuineaDEATH PENALTY
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: COURT RULING CLEARS WAY FOR FIRST EXECUTIONS IN NEARLY 70 YEARS
A ruling by Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court on 30 July 2021 cleared the way for the country’s first executions in almost 70 years.