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
DECEMBER 20, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: WOMAN AMONG FIVE AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR KURUKSHETRA DOCTOR’S MURDER
Two years after a doctor was killed in Haryana by robbers who had barged into her Kurukshetra residence, the court of additional district and sessions judge on December 20, 2025 sentenced four men and a woman to death in the case.
DECEMBER 19, 2025PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Gov. Shapiro issues 1st reprieve, continuing moratorium
DECEMBER 18, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Frank Walls, 58, White, was executed on December 18.
47th execution of the year in the US, 19 in Florida alone
DECEMBER 18, 2025ArizonaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Arizona. Cleophus Cooksey, 43, Black, sentenced to death
DECEMBER 18, 2025DEATH PENALTYUSA - Arizona. Cleophus Cooksey, 43, Black, sentenced to death
DECEMBER 16, 2025TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: THREE IMMIGRATION OFFICERS SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER KIGOMA KILLING
Three immigration officers, Fredrick Kyomo, Joachim Trathizius, and Mabruki Hatibu, on December 15, 2025 were sentenced to death for the murder of Enos Elias
DECEMBER 16, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Death Sentence of Seyed Mohammad-Javad Vafaie Upheld by the Supreme Court
His request for retrial was rejected
- DECEMBER 15, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: AN INDIAN GOES TO GALLOWS FOR ‘BLUDGEONING’ WIFE
The Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Nayef Al-Dahoum, sentenced an Indian expatriate to death for the premeditated murder of his wife at their home in the Salmi area, following marital disputes, Arab Times reported on December 11, 2025.
DECEMBER 15, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - DPIC Year End Report 2025
More executions than new death sentences
DECEMBER 12, 2025CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. William Arnold Armendariz Sentenced to Death
28, Hispanic, a gang member
DECEMBER 11, 2025ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN IN HEBEI SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING HIS WIFE
A man in north China's Hebei Province was sentenced to death for killing his wife, a local court announced on December 9, 2025
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA SENDS HOME TWO DUTCH CONVICTS, ONE ON DEATH ROW, AFTER REPATRIATION DEAL
Two Dutch prisoners convicted of drug offences left Indonesia for the Netherlands on December 8, 2025 night, after both nations signed a repatriation deal last week.
DECEMBER 10, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Mark Geralds, 58, White, was executed on December 10, 2025
- DECEMBER 10, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: 42-YEAR-OLD MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE, MURDER OF SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN VALSAD
A court in Vapi town of Valsad, in the State of Gujarat, on December 4, 2025 sentenced 42-year-old man to death for the brutal rape, sodomy, and murder of a six-year-old girl.
DECEMBER 9, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Goli Koohkan has been saved
Thanks to an international fundraising campaign
DECEMBER 8, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Execution of Women in Iran Soars: 70% Increase in 2 Year
By the end of November 2025, over 1,800 people had been executed, including at least 57 women
DECEMBER 7, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Ghaffari executed on December 7
The primary defendant in a major economic case
DECEMBER 6, 2025IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Political prisoner Ramin Zeleh sentenced to death
DECEMBER 4, 2025BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE
A Dhaka court on December 1st, 2025 sentenced a man to death for murdering his wife in the Dakshin Keraniganj area of the capital after she failed to fulfil his dowry demand.
- NOVEMBER 27, 2025ItalyDEATH PENALTY
GLOBAL - How many women are in prison or on death row around the world?
At least 730.000
NOVEMBER 27, 2025VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR POISONING 4 FAMILY MEMBERS WITH CYANIDE
A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on November 27, 2025 for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community.
- NOVEMBER 26, 2025Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
SRI LANKA: TEN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER IN EMBILIPITIYA
The Embilipitiya High Court on November 24, 2025 sentenced ten people to death over the killing of a man in the Mullagasaya area in 2011.
NOVEMBER 26, 2025IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING PREGNANT WOMAN IN KERALA'S ALAPPUZHA
A court in Alappuzha on September 24, 2025 sentenced a man to death for murdering a pregnant woman at Kainakary in the district.
NOVEMBER 25, 2025IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: EX-OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER DEADLY OFFICE CLASH
An Iraqi court sentenced the former director of Baghdad’s Agriculture Department to death for his role in armed clashes that killed a security officer and a civilian, leaving others wounded, the Supreme Judicial Council said on November 25, 2025.
NOVEMBER 24, 2025YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: HOUTHIS SENTENCE 17 TO DEATH OVER ALLEGED SPYING FOR ISRAEL, US, SAUDI ARABIA
A court operating under Yemen’s Houthi rebels on November 23, 2025 sentenced 17 people to death for allegedly spying on behalf of Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia, rebel media said.
NOVEMBER 20, 2025MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: APEX COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY ON S’WAK MAN FOR KILLING BABY
The Federal Court on November 19, 2025 upheld the conviction and death sentence on a father found guilty of murdering his two-month-old disabled baby boy by smashing the child’s body.
NOVEMBER 20, 2025FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Richard Randolph, now Malik Abdul-Sajjad, 63, Black, was executed
44th person to be put to death this year in the USA
NOVEMBER 20, 2025United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Trump would like to sentence parliamentarians who oppose him to death for ‘treason’
- NOVEMBER 19, 2025PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: HUSBAND SENTENCED TO DEATH, IN-LAWS GET LIFE IN SANIA ZAHRA MURDER CASE
A Multan sessions court on November 18, 2025 sentenced a man to death for murdering his 20-year-old pregnant wife Sania Zehra.
NOVEMBER 17, 2025New HampshireDEATH PENALTYUSA - New Hampshire. ACLU Files Amicus Brief for Sole Death Row Prisoner: Michael Addison