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
AUGUST 6, 2021TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Otis McKane sentenced to death
- AUGUST 2, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Sajad (Sajjad) Sanjari, a minor, executed in Dizelabad prison on August 2
He was 15 years old at the time of the crime
JULY 22, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: HCMC DEATH ROW ESCAPEE RECAPTURED
The HCMC police recaptured on 16 July 2021 morning a death row inmate infected with Covid-19 who had escaped from a high-security prison, the police said.
JULY 22, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HIS BOSS’S WIFE
A 37-year-old man, Adeyemi Morenikeji, on 16 July 2021 was sentenced to death in Oyo State for the killing of Mrs Racheal Ayanwale, his boss’s wife.
- JULY 21, 2021OhioDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ohio. George Brinkman’s conviction overturned
JULY 21, 2021Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTYMYANMAR: JUNTA TRIBUNALS IMPOSE 65 DEATH SENTENCES
The Myanmar junta’s military tribunals have sentenced 65 people to death following unjust trials since the military coup on 1 February 2021, Human Rights Watch said on 21 July 2021.
JULY 20, 2021GambiaDEATH PENALTYGAMBIA: EX-JUNTA MEMBER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the Banjul High Court on 14 July 2021 sentenced Yankuba Touray, a former Minister of Local Government and Lands to death by hanging.
JULY 19, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: TWO POLICEMEN, THREE OTHERS TO DIE FOR KIDNAPPING
Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state on 16 July 2021 sentenced two police officers and three other persons to death for kidnapping in the state.
JULY 19, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR ARMED ROBBERY
A High Court in Abeokuta, on 16 July 2021 sentenced a 44-year-old man, Tosin Shodunke to death by hanging for armed robbery.
JULY 17, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING PANDEMIC CONTROL VOLUNTEER
A man in the northeast China city of Harbin was sentenced to death on 15 July 2021 for killing a pandemic control volunteer who stopped him from leaving a residential complex under lockdown, a court said.
JULY 16, 2021CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Judge Fidler sentenced Michael Gargiulo to death
Gargiulo is considered a serial killer
JULY 13, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ANTI-TERROR COURT GIVES DEATH TO GUARD FOR KILLING BANK MANAGER OVER BLASPHEMY ALLEGATIONS
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on 30 June 2021 sentenced to death a former security guard for killing his bank’s manager over blasphemy allegations in the country’s eastern Punjab province last year.
JULY 13, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MOTHER'S GRUESOME KILLING
A local court in Maharashtra's Kolhapur on 8 July 2021 awarded death penalty to a 35-year-old man, who was convicted of killing his mother, ripping open her body and removing her organs.
JULY 12, 2021SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: A MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY A PUNTLAND COURT ESCAPES JAIL
A prisoner who was sentenced to death by a court in Puntland for the murder of a man in Lasanod several years ago on 6 July 2021 escaped the main prison in the town of Gardo.
- JULY 12, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: TWO BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN MURDER CASE
A Dunyapur court on 5 July 2021 sentenced to death the two brothers involved in a double murder case in Lodhran.
- JULY 12, 2021YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: HOUTHI COURT SENTENCES FIVE TO DEATH FOR SPYING FOR UK
A Houthi court sentenced five people to death on 6 July 2021 after finding them guilty of spying for the United Kingdom.
JULY 10, 2021KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF MOTHER OF TWO
A Kuwaiti court on 6 July 2021 sentenced a man to death after convicting him of the kidnap and murder of a mother of two, a crime that shocked the emirate.
JULY 10, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Amir and Akbar Jalilifar executed in Isfahan Prison on July 10
On drug charges
JULY 10, 2021Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTYMYANMAR: MILITARY JUNTA SENTENCES 16 TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF ALLEGED INFORMANT, SONS
Myanmar’s military junta has sentenced 16 people to death for murdering an alleged informant and his two sons in the capital Yangon, local media reported late on 28 June 2021.
JULY 8, 2021JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF WIFE AND 5 KIDS
A 36-year-old man on 30 June 2021 was sentenced to death in Japan for killing his wife and five children at their home in Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 2017.
JULY 8, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: CHINESE MURDERER SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Da Nang People’s Court has sentenced a Chinese man to death for strangling his compatriot to death and butchering her body for disposal, VNA reported on 2 July 2021.
- JULY 7, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Faizollah Ahmadzadeh executed in Qom on July 7
For drug-related charges
- JULY 7, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 'Mehdi' sentenced to death on 7 July
on charges of killing police officer
- JULY 7, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Man sentenced to death on a charge of Moharebeh
For extortion
JULY 7, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: KIDNAPPER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN BAYELSA
An Ogbia High Court sitting in Yenagoa on 28 June 2021 sentenced to death by firing squad a 39-year old man, Charles Nikson, for his involvement in the November 2020 thwarted abduction of Mrs. Vivian Okoye.
JULY 7, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: FIVE CONVICTS GET DEATH OVER MURDER CHARGES
Two sessions courts of Rawalpindi on 30 June 2021 sentenced five convicts to death and awarded longer jail sentences to two in separate murder cases.
- JULY 6, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
US INSTITUTE REPORTS FORMER SAUDI COMMANDER IN YEMEN SENTENCED TO DEATH
Saudi Arabia's former commander in charge of the coalition war in Yemen has been sentenced to death following a military trial, according to a 27 June 2021 report by the Washington DC-based Institute for Gulf Affairs.
- JULY 6, 2021SudanDEATH PENALTY
SUDAN: FORMER SECURITY AGENT SENTENCED TO HANG FOR STUDENT’S MURDER
The Special Court convened to try the perpetrators of crimes related to the Sudanese revolution on 27 June 2021 sentenced a former member of the defunct National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) to death by hanging, for murder.
- JULY 4, 2021Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
MYANMAR: AT LEAST 883 CIVILIANS KILLED, 126 SENTENCED TO DEATH SINCE COUP
At least 883 unarmed civilians have been killed by security forces in Myanmar since the military seizure of power in early February and 126 have been sentenced to death.
- JULY 3, 2021VirginiaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Virginia. Death row emptied
the only 2 prisoners moved off