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
MARCH 11, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 9 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING MAN IN CTG
A Chattogram (Chittagong) court on 8 March 2021 sentenced nine people to death in a case filed over killing a man at Fatikchhari upazila 17 years ago.
MARCH 11, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MIGRANT WORKER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2018 RAPE & MURDER CASE IN KERALA
A migrant worker from Assam on 8 March 2021 was sentenced to death in Kerala by the District and Sessions Court for raping and murdering a 60-year-old woman at Puthenvelikkara in 2018.
MARCH 11, 2021Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: 5 DAESH MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ASSASSINATING OFFICER, BLOWING UP MOSQUES
A preliminary death sentence was issued on 11 March 2021 in Saudi Arabia against five members of a cell affiliated with the terrorist group Daesh.
- MARCH 10, 2021Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DR CONGO: AUTHORITIES SHOULD QUASH WHISTLEBLOWERS’ DEATH SENTENCES
Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should quash the death sentences imposed in absentia on two whistleblowers who provided information on corruption, Human Rights Watch declared on 9 March 2021.
MARCH 10, 2021Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTYDR CONGO: 16 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING EBOLA MEDIC
Sixteen people, including a doctor, have been sentenced to death in absentia for the murder of a Cameroonian Ebola expert, lawyers said on 9 March 2021.
MARCH 9, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE OF WALI BABAR’S KILLERS QUASHED
A double bench of the Sindh High Court, Larkana, on 4 March 2021, accepting the appeal of convicted accused in journalist Wali Babar case, quashed the sentence passed by the ATC Court, Kandhkot.
MARCH 9, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UTTARAKHAND MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR SODOMISING AND MURDERING 5-YEAR OLD
A Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court of Uttarakhand on 6 March 2021 awarded death penalty to a man for sodomising and murdering a 5-year-old child in US Nagar. His parents were also sent to prison for concealing the crime, said an o
- MARCH 8, 2021Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DRC: TWO WHISTLEBLOWERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ABSENTIA
Two whistleblowers Gradi Koko Lobanga and Navy Malela were sentenced to death in absentia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in September 2020, the PPLAAF said on 4 March 2021.
MARCH 8, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: MAN WHO RAPED FIVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL GETS DEATH SENTENCE
Rawalpindi Additional District and Sessions Judge Jehangir Gondal awarded a death sentence and imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on a man convicted of raping a five-year-old girl.
MARCH 6, 2021GhanaDEATH PENALTYGHANA: TWO NIGERIANS TO DIE BY HANGING FOR KIDNAPPING, KILLING FOUR GIRLS
Two Nigerians who were accused of kidnapping and eventually killing four girls in Takoradi, Ghana, were on 5 March 2021 afternoon sentenced to death by a court in the country after they were found guilty of murder.
MARCH 4, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 4 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WOMAN AFTER RAPE IN CHITTAGONG
A Chittagong court on 3 March 2021 sentenced four people to death in a case filed for killing a woman after rape in 2016.
- MARCH 3, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA EXECUTES MAN WHO KILLED HIS MUM FOR THE MONEY TO BUY AN APARTMENT
A man who electrocuted, then bludgeoned his mother to death to claim an insurance payout so he could buy a flat was executed on 24 February 2021 in China.
MARCH 3, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: NIGERIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRANSPORTING NEARLY 4KG OF METH
The People’s Court of the southern border province of Tay Ninh on 2 March 2021 handed down the death penalty to a Nigerian man for illegally transporting nearly 4kg of meth, in line with the 2015 Criminal Code.
MARCH 1, 2021MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF EX-TOW TRUCK DRIVER FOR MURDER OF AMBANK FOUNDER
The Federal Court in Putrajaya on 1 March 2021 upheld the conviction and death sentence of a former tow truck driver for the murder of Arab-Malaysian Bank (AmBank) founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi in 2013.
FEBRUARY 28, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Four Political Prisoners executed in Sepidar Prison on February 28
Naser Khafajian, Ali Khasraji, Hossein Silawi and Jasem Heidary
FEBRUARY 27, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: CHRISTIAN COUPLE ON DEATH ROW HAVE BLASPHEMY APPEAL DELAYED INDEFINITELY
A Pakistani high court on 24 February 2021 indefinitely delayed the appeal hearing of a Christian couple who have been on death row since 2014.
FEBRUARY 25, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: HIGH COURT ACQUITS MAN FROM DEATH SENTENCE, ORDERS PROBE AGAINST INVESTIGATING TEAM
The Bombay High Court while acquitting a man from a death sentence for raping and killing a minor girl, on 25 February 2021 ordered a probe against the investigating team for misplacing a vital piece of evidence.
FEBRUARY 25, 2021OklahomaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oklahoma. Supporters of Jones submitted more 6.2 million signatures (including HoC’s)
supporting his petition for clemency
FEBRUARY 24, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP COURT AWARDS DEATH SENTENCE TO ACCUSED IN RAPE AND MURDER CASE OF MINOR GIRL
The Additional District Judge (ADJ) of Hardoi, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, on 22 February 2021 awarded death sentence to an accused for rape and murder of a one-and-half year old minor girl.
FEBRUARY 24, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - “Ehsan” Acquitted of Alcohol Consumption
He wes facing death penalty,
FEBRUARY 23, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING DISABLED WIFE, SON
A Kishoreganj court on 8 February 2021 awarded the death sentence to a man for killing his disabled wife and son. Additionally he was fined Tk 2 lakh.
- FEBRUARY 22, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: ‘PRESIDENT UNCLE, PLEASE FORGIVE MY MOTHER’, DEATH ROW CONVICT SHABNAM'S SON SEEKS MERCY
The son of a death row convict in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha on 18 February 2021 appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to commute her death sentence.
- FEBRUARY 22, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: BIHAR MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPING, MURDERING MINOR GIRL
A court in Bihar’s Gopalganj district on 20 February 2021 sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl in August last year.
- FEBRUARY 21, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 73 year-old man facing death penalty for alcohol consumption
after being arrested for the fourth time
FEBRUARY 20, 2021AlgeriaDEATH PENALTYALGERIA: JIHADIST SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR FRENCH HIKER’S MURDER
An Algerian court on 18 February 2021 sentenced to death a jihadist for the kidnapping and beheading of French mountaineer Herve Gourdel six years ago after a high profile one-day trial.
- FEBRUARY 18, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING, KILLING MENTALLY RETARDED MINOR BOY
The Mahila Court on 18 February 2021 awarded death penalty to a 34-year-old man hailing from Gujarat for sexually assaulting and murdering a mentally retarded 17-year-old minor boy.
FEBRUARY 18, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR 10 MILITANTS
A Bangladeshi top court on 17 February 2021 upheld the death sentence of 10 militants in a two-decade-old case related to the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
FEBRUARY 18, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - DPIC Adds Eleven Cases to Innocence List
185 death-row exoneration from 1973 to today
- FEBRUARY 17, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: PATNA SCHOOL PRINCIPAL GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPING CLASS 5 STUDENT
The principal and a teacher of a school in Patna on 15 February 2021 were awarded death sentence and imprisonment for life, respectively, by a court for the rape of a Class 5 student.
FEBRUARY 17, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FOUR OF A FAMILY IN KURIGRAM
Kurigram District and Sessions Judge Md Abdul Mannan on 16 February 2021 sentenced six people to death for killing four members of a family in 2014.