Death sentences
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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 6, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING, RAPING 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL
The People’s Court in the south-central Vietnamese province of Phu Yen on 31 May 2021 condemned a 19-year-old man to death for raping and murdering a 13-year-old girl last year.
JUNE 6, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: COURT ACQUITS CHRISTIAN COUPLE OF ‘BLASPHEMY’
A Pakistani court on 3 June 2021 acquitted a Christian couple who have spent seven years on death row for alleged blasphemy, their lawyer says, in a case that rights groups have long singled out for fair trial issues.
JUNE 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Shahin Mirkhani executed in Shirvan Prison on June 6
For drugs
JUNE 1, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: DEATH PENALTY FOR TEACHER WHO RAPED MULTIPLE STUDENTS
A Chinese teacher at an elementary school has been sentenced to death in August 2020 for raping several students from 2001 to 2020, the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office of China said on 31 May 2021 at a press conference.
JUNE 1, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: TWO MURDERERS AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE BY PINDI COURT
The Rawalpindi District Session Court on 31 May 2021 awarded a death sentence to two accused in a murder case.
- MAY 27, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR SLAYING BROTHER
An Egyptian court has sentenced a local man to death after convicting him of fatally stabbing his younger brother, Gulf News reported on 26 May 2021.
MAY 27, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: NIGERIAN RECEIVES DEATH FOR SMUGGLING METH
A Nigerian man was sentenced to death on 25 May 2021 for smuggling nearly six kilos of methamphetamine from Cambodia to Vietnam.
- MAY 25, 2021SudanDEATH PENALTY
SUDAN: OFFICER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING PROTESTER
A Sudanese court sentenced to death on 24 May 2021 a paramilitary officer charged with killing a demonstrator during a deadly breakup of a protest camp in the capital, Khartoum, two years ago.
MAY 25, 2021FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Billy Wells sentenced to death
After his seventh murder conviction
MAY 25, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: 12 MEMBERS OF NOTORIOUS ROBBER-GANG SENTENCED TO DEATH
A local court in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, on 24 May 2021 sentenced 12 members of a notorious gang to death and seven others to life imprisonment for highway robberies and murders.
MAY 24, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: PATNA HIGH COURT ACQUITS 13 ACCUSED IN SENARI MASSACRE CASE
The Patna High Court on 21 May 2021 acquitted 13 accused persons in the Senari massacre case in which 34 persons were killed on 18 March 1999 by an erstwhile Maoist group in Senari village in central Bihar.
- MAY 23, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Saleh Shariati, Juvenile Offender Sentenced to Death, Acquitted in Court
A "qassameh" case
- MAY 22, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: HO CHI MINH CITY COURT SENTENCES THREE TO DEATH FOR DRUG OFFENSES
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on 19 May 2021 imposed the death penalty upon three men for a series of drug-related crimes.
MAY 22, 2021MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: COUPLE GET DEATH FOR KILLING EIGHT-YEAR-OLD SON
A married couple was sent to the gallows on 21 May 2021 by the High Court of Shah Alam after they were found guilty of murdering their eight-year-old son at a massage centre where they worked, four years ago.
MAY 20, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER OF FEMALE JUDGE
A woman was sentenced to death on 19 May 2021 after a court in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, identified her as having murdered a judge at the beginning of this year.
- MAY 19, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: DEATH PENALTY AWARDED TO MURDER CONVICT COMMUTED TO LIFE SENTENCE
The Sindh High Court commuted on 18 May 2021 the death sentence awarded to a murder convict into life imprisonment.
MAY 15, 2021Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTYDR CONGO: THIRTY SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER ANTI-POLICE CLASHES
Thirty people were sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 15 May 2021 after a one-day trial for their role in anti-police violence marking the end of Ramadan in the capital.
- MAY 14, 2021North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
USA - North Carolina. William Barnes gets 2 life sentences
Sentenced to death in 1994
MAY 13, 2021ZambiaDEATH PENALTYZAMBIA: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE ON LUWINGU MAN
The Supreme Court of Zambia has upheld a death sentence slapped on a man of Mporokoso who was convicted of robbing a family of money, the Daily Mail reported on 13 May 2021.
MAY 12, 2021ZambiaDEATH PENALTYZAMBIA: CHIPATA HIGH COURT SENTENCES THREE TO DEATH
The Chipata High Court has sentenced three people to death by hanging, in two different cases, the Mast reported on 12 May 2021.
MAY 10, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH A SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR INTENTIONAL HOMICIDE
Nanchong Intermediate People’s Court recently sentenced to death a man for intentional homicide, with a two-year reprieve depriving him of political rights for life, China News reported on 7 May 2021.
- MAY 10, 2021Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTY
SIERRA LEONE: YOUNG MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH AMID DEBATE TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
Sierra Leone’s High Court Resident Judge in the Kailahun District of the country – Justice Francis Banks-Kamara, on 7 May 2021 sentenced a young man – Kholie Tamba to death by hanging, after he was found guilty of murder.
MAY 8, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN AWARDED DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDERING WIFE, RAPING DAUGHTER
In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, The Pudukkottai Mahila Court on 6 May 2021 awarded death penalty to a man for murdering his wife and sexually assaulting his daughter.
MAY 5, 2021BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: SUPREME COURT CONFIRMS DEATH SENTENCE FOR VIKTAR SKRUNDZIK
The Judicial Chamber on Criminal Case of the Supreme Court of Belarus has dismissed an appeal filed by death row prisoner Viktar Skrundzik, Human Rights Center "Viasna" reported on 4 May 2021.
MAY 5, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR SLAYING DENTIST
According to legal sources, an Egyptian court has convicted a man on fatally stabbing a dentist and sentenced him to death, the Gulf News reported on 5 May 2021.
MAY 5, 2021IdahoDEATH PENALTYUSA - Idaho. Idaho will execute an Italian American with terminal cancer: Gerald Ross Pizzuto
On June 2
MAY 4, 2021ZambiaDEATH PENALTYZAMBIA: POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
A police officer on 4 May 2021 was sentenced to death by hanging for shooting dead a Zambia Air Force employee at Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) offices in Chipata in 2019.
MAY 3, 2021BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: LUKASHENKO PARDONS 2 BROTHERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Illya Kostseu (21) and Stanislau Kostseu (19), who were sentenced to death in January 2020, have been pardoned, human rights centre Viasna reported on 30 April 2021 with reference to the family.
MAY 1, 2021ZambiaDEATH PENALTYZAMBIA: MAZABUKA MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING SCHOOL GIRL
The High Court sitting in Mazabuka, Zambia, on 29 April 2021 sentenced to death by hanging 21-year-old Michelo Siangumba of Mazabuka for the murder of Tina Chingumbe Muyuni Mweene, who was a pupil at Mazabuka Girls Secondary School.
APRIL 30, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Joseph Fidel Alliniece sentenced to death
By a Cleveland County jury