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
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: MQM ACTIVIST’S KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH
Hyderabad model criminal trial court-I judge Ahsan Durrani on 20 September 2021 awarded capital punishment to a suspect in murder case of an activist of Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
- 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.
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2021PortugalDEATH PENALTY
PORTUGAL: SUSPECT LINKED TO INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM FEARS DEATH PENALTY IF EXTRADITED
Indian citizen Iqbal Singh is in preventive custody in Lisbon following SEF’s execution of an international arrest warrant for connections to and the financing of terrorism, Portugal Resident reported on 9 September 2021.
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DOCTOR’S MURDER IN TAMIL NADU
More than seven years after the killing of popular Chennai based neurosurgeon Dr S D Subbaiah the First Additional Sessions Court on 4 August 2021 sentenced seven of the ten accused to death sentences and two others to double life terms.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2021CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Scott Peterson will be sentenced to LWOP in November
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: MAN WHO KILLED HIS PREGNANT WIFE SENTENCED TO DEATH
Yan Haojie, the man who killed his pregnant wife after she refused to help him repay his gambling debts, has been sentenced to death, the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court announced on 30 July 2021.
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2021IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIAN REPATRIATED AFTER MALAYSIAN COURT OVERTURNS DEATH PENALTY
Indonesian Consul General in Kuching Yonny Tri Prayitno on 8 September 2021 confirmed the consulate offered legal and repatriation assistance to Indonesian Ical Samerin, 36, whose death penalty verdict was overturned in Malaysia.
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: COURT SENTENCES HISHAM ASHMAWY’S TOP AIDE, TWO OTHERS TO DEATH
An Egyptian court on 27 July 2021 sentenced three persons to death, including the senior aide of Hisham Al-Ashmawy who was executed last year, after finding them guilty of terrorism charges.
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SERIES OF KILLINGS
A woman was sentenced to death on 9 September 2021 by a court in east China for a series of murders, robbery and kidnappings which caused seven deaths and shocked the nation.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 24 MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER ATTACKING POLICE
A Beheira criminal court on 29 July 2021 sentenced 24 Muslim Brotherhood members to death for the killing of police officers in two separate cases, a judicial source said.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021DEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: SC COMMUTES DEATH PENALTY OF 3 CONVICTS TO LIFE-TERM IMPRISONMENT
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 18 August 2021 upheld death sentence of an adult man and commuted three other youths’ death sentence to life-term imprisonment finding them guilty of raping and killing a girl.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: FOUR PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER 2013 POLICE STATION ATTACK
A Minya Criminal court on 13 September 2021 sentenced four people to death by hanging and 22 others to life in prison for raiding and torching a police station, which resulted in the death of two policemen.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTYUAE: DRUG ADDICT, WHO STABBED FATHER 36 TIMES, GETS DEATH SENTENCE
An Emirati drug addict in Al Ain has been sentenced to death for killing his father after the victim allegedly refused to give him money to buy drugs, Khaleej Times reported on 13 September 2021.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2021JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: GANG BOSS SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER GROUP MEMBERS ATTACKED CIVILIANS
A district court in Japan on 24 August 2021 sentenced the head of a gangster organization to death after its members killed one civilian and injured three others.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Another step forward for Julius Jones
A death row inmate whose case has raised a lot of attention
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2021SudanDEATH PENALTY
SUDAN: DEATH SENTENCES FOR SIX PARAMILITARIES FOR THE KILLING OF PROTESTERS IN 2019
Six members of a Sudanese paramilitary force were sentenced to death on 5 August 2021 by a court in the central city of Al-Obeid for the deaths of six protesters in 2019, including four school children.
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: HC ACQUITS MAN ON DEATH ROW, SAYS COPS DIDN’T VISIT CRIME SPOT
The Patna High Court on 23 July 2021 acquitted a man, who was sentenced to death for allegedly raping and killing a 16-year-old girl under Barhara police station in Bhojpur district of Bihar.
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2021CameroonDEATH PENALTY
CAMEROON: FOUR MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SHOOTING ATTACK ON SCHOOL
A court in Cameroon has sentenced four people to death for their roles in a shooting attack on a school last year that killed seven children and wounded 12 others, according to a court document seen by Reuters on 8 September 2021.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING LGBTQ ACTIVISTS
A court in Bangladesh on 31 August 2021 sentenced six members of a banned group to death and acquitted two others in connection with the murder of two LGBTQ rights activists five years ago.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 10 DEFENDANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING HEROIN
A court in Egypt on 5 September 2021 sentenced seven Pakistanis, two Egyptians and an Iranian citizen to death on charges of smuggling in over two tonnes of heroin by sea, a judicial source said.
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQI: DEATH PENALTY HANDED TO CONVICTED KILLER OF LOCAL KARBALA OFFICIAL
An Iraqi court on 21 August 2021 sentenced the recently convicted killer of the Mayor of the central city of Karbala to the death penalty.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: COURT AWARDS DEATH PENALTY TO 24-YR-OLD MAN FOR RAPE, MURDER OF MINOR GIRL
A 24-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh on 23 July 2021 was awarded the death penalty for killing and raping a minor girl, more than two years ago.
SEPTEMBER 7, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 7,900 PRISON INMATES SENTENCED TO DEATH, MP REVEALS
The head of the Parliamentary Strategic Planning and Government Program Monitoring Committee, Hazem Majid Al-Khalidi, called on the Presidency of the Republic to abide by the constitution to implement death sentences against terrorists whose sentences wer
SEPTEMBER 4, 2021IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: SIX IRAQIS ON DEATH ROW EXECUTED, THREE FOR 'TERRORISM'
Six Iraqis sentenced to death, three for "terrorism", were hanged on 30 August 2021 in a prison in southern Iraq, a medical source told AFP.
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2021AlbaniaDEATH PENALTY
ALBANIA REFUSES TO EXTRADITE MAN FACING EGYPT DEATH SENTENCE
A court in Albania refused on 20 August 2021 to extradite an Egyptian man who faces a death sentence in his country.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2021AfghanistanDEATH PENALTYAFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN ISSUE DEATH SENTENCE FOR BROTHER OF TRANSLATOR WHO HELPED US TROOPS
The Taliban have sentenced the brother of an Afghan translator to death, according to letters obtained by CNN, accusing him of helping the US and providing security to his brother, who served as an interpreter to American troops.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Massachusetts 8th Graders Push to Exonerate Woman Sentenced to Death
In 1683, in Salem Witchcraft Hysteria
AUGUST 31, 2021VirginiaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Virginia. ‘Martinsville 7’ Granted Posthumous Pardons 70 Years After Their Executions
Seven young Black men sentenced to death by all-white juries
- AUGUST 23, 2021CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. Edward Wycoff’s death sentence overturned
AUGUST 12, 2021TennesseeDEATH PENALTYUSA - Tennessee. Steven Wiggins sentenced to death