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
JANUARY 15, 2021VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: SIX SENTENCED TO DEATH IN HCMC FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A court in Ho Chi Minh City on 12 January 2021 sentenced six drug traffickers to death for smuggling 13.8 kilograms of synthetic drugs and ketamine from Cambodia into the city.
JANUARY 14, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ATC AWARDS TWO TIME DEATH SENTENCE IN POLICE OFFICIAL MURDER CASE
The Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC), Rawalpindi Judge Raja Pervez Akhtar on 13 January 2021 awarded two times the death sentence to an accused in the murder case of a policeman.
JANUARY 14, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: TWELVE YEARS AFTER HE WAS JAILED, SUPREME COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF DEATH ROW CONVICT
The Supreme Court of India on 5 January 2021 acquitted Hari Om alias 'Hero' who had been convicted and sentenced to death by a trial court for committing murder and dacoity (banditry).
- JANUARY 13, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTY
POLAND: SWEDISH LI ZHIHUI COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY IF EXTRADITED TO CHINA
Swedish Falun Gong activist Li Zhihui, 53, risks being extradited to China after he has been detained in Poland for almost two years.
JANUARY 13, 2021MoroccoDEATH PENALTYMOROCCO: KILLER, RAPIST OF 11-YEAR OLD BOY SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Moroccan Court sentenced on 13 January 2021 a 24-year old man to death penalty for kidnapping, raping, and killing Adnane Bouchouf, a 11-year old boy in September last year.
- JANUARY 12, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: FUGITIVE WHO KILLED THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH
Zeng Chunliang, a man who killed three people within six days last year, was sentenced to death by the Yichun Intermediate People's Court in Jiangxi province on 11 January 2021.
JANUARY 12, 2021JordanDEATH PENALTYJORDAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2019 KNIFE ATTACK ON TOURISTS
Jordan’s state security court sentenced a citizen to death on 12 January 2021 for the 2019 stabbing of eight people, four of them foreign tourists, at one of the kingdom’s ancient sites.
JANUARY 11, 2021IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER
The District and Sessions Court of Haveri, in Karnataka, sentenced a man to death under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act on 7 January 2021, after finding him guilty of raping and murdering a minor girl in 2018.
- JANUARY 10, 2021PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: ISLAMABAD ATC SENTENCES 3 TO DEATH FOR SHARING BLASPHEMOUS CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on 8 January 2021 sentenced three men to death for sharing blasphemous content on social media. A fourth accused in the same case was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
- JANUARY 10, 2021JordanDEATH PENALTY
JORDAN: TWO MEN GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING SEPTUAGENARIAN
The Court of Cassation has upheld a June Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a street vendor to death after convicting him of robbing and murdering his 72-year-old relative in Tafileh in October 2017, the Jordan Times reported on 7 January 2021.
JANUARY 8, 2021MississippiDEATH PENALTYUSA - Mississippi. Eddie Lee Howard Exonerated From Death Row
He is the 174th former death-row prisoner exonerated in the U.S. since 1973.
JANUARY 7, 2021United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Federal. Dustin Higgs Case To Be Heard 12 Days After Scheduled Execution Date
Uncertainties over execution protocol
JANUARY 6, 2021BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING SCHOOLGIRL AFTER RAPE IN 2012
Two people on 4 January 2021 were sentenced to death for raping and killing a minor in Madaripur.
JANUARY 5, 2021ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: EX-CHAIRMAN OF HUARONG ASSET MANAGEMENT SENTENCED TO DEATH
The former chairman of China’s Huarong Asset Management Co was sentenced to death, a court in the northern city of Tianjin said on 5 January 2021, in one of the country’s highest profile corruption cases.
JANUARY 4, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: KADUNA GOV EL-RUFAI PARDONS 12 PRISONERS, COMMUTES A DEATH SENTENCE
Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State has granted pardon to 12 prisoners in the state to mark the beginning of 2021.
JANUARY 2, 2021AfghanistanDEATH PENALTYAFGHANISTAN: KABUL UNIVERSITY ATTACK MASTERMIND SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Afghan Supreme Court has sentenced Mohammad Adil, the mastermind of the November 2020 Kabul University attack that claimed the lives of 22 people, to death.
- JANUARY 2, 2021NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: JIGAWA HIGH COURT SENTENCES TWO TO DEATH BY HANGING
Jigawa State High Court on 29 December 2020 sentenced two persons to death by hanging in different cases.
- DECEMBER 31, 2020KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: EMPLOYER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FILIPINA DOMESTIC WORKER
A Kuwaiti citizen has been sentenced to death a year after killing her Filipina domestic worker.
DECEMBER 30, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN AWARDED DOUBLE DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 7-YEAR OLD DALIT GIRL IN TAMIL NADU
A young man was on 29 December 2020 awarded double death sentence by a court in the district of Pudukottai, Tamil Nadu, for the rape and murder of a seven-year old Dalit girl last year.
DECEMBER 30, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - California. Samuel Little died. He was serving life sentences
The FBI has called Little "the most prolific serial killer in the history of the United States"
DECEMBER 29, 2020ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: COURT REINSTATES DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL
The High People's Court in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region reheard the case of the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl, reversing the second trial verdict and sentencing the perpetrator to death.
DECEMBER 28, 2020TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: FOUR GET DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING CHADEMA OFFICIAL
Four people charged in Tanzania with the murder of former Chadema Geita regional chairman Alphonce Mawazo were on 24 December 2020 given death sentence after the High Court found them guilty.
DECEMBER 28, 2020KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: EGYPTIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING KUWAITI WOMAN AND HER SAUDI MOTHER
Abd Al Tawab Sayed Youssef, the Egyptian man who was found guilty in Kuwait of murdering a Kuwaiti woman and her Saudi mother in October 2015, has been sentenced to death by hanging, Al Anba daily reported on 27 December 2020.
DECEMBER 28, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ASSAM MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF A FIVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL
A court in Assam on 21 December 2020 sentenced a man to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. The incident reportedly took place in the Dekorai tea garden area under Sootea police station in Bishwanath district in 2018.
DECEMBER 26, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: RAWALPINDI MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING DIFFERENTLY-ABLED MINOR
A Rawalpindi criminal trial court for gender-based violence sentenced on 19 December 2020 Muhammad Ayub to death for raping a 12-year-old differently-abled girl, ARY News reported.
DECEMBER 22, 2020BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH IN SHAMIUL MURDER CASE
A Dhaka court on 20 December 2020 sentenced a woman and another one to death for killing her son Shamiul.
- DECEMBER 21, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: MURDERER OF SERVICEMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
A sessions court in Islamabad on 19 December 2020 awarded death sentence to Baitullah and life imprisonment to Gul Siddique for the murder of Major Mohammad Laraib of the Special Services Group (SSG) last year.
DECEMBER 17, 2020Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Five members of the same family were sentenced to death by Homagama High Court Judge Damith Thotawatte on 15 December 2020.
DECEMBER 17, 2020BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: 8 TO WALK THE GALLOWS FOR KILLING 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL AFTER RAPE IN CHITTAGONG
A Chittagong court on 14 December 2020 sentenced eight people to death in a case for gang-raping and killing a nine-year old girl in Chittagong.
DECEMBER 17, 2020MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: PERSONAL BODYGUARD SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING EMPLOYER, TWO OTHERS IN PENANG
The George Town High Court on 16 December 2020 ordered a personal bodyguard to be sent to the gallows after finding him guilty of murdering his employer and two others in a shooting incident along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway four years ago.