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 11, 2020Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: FOUR SUSPECTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER BY KALUTARA HC
The Kalutara High Court on 11 June 2020 handed down the death sentence on four suspects proven guilty of murder.
- JUNE 11, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: LHC ACQUITS TWO DEATH SENTENCE CONVICTS
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on 9 June 2020 set aside the decision of a Lower Court and acquitted two death sentence convicts for lack of evidence in a double murder case.
- JUNE 10, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Execution of Mola Nasrollah Narooyi, who was not sentenced to death.
IRAN - Execution of Mola Nasrollah Narooyi, who was not sentenced to death.
JUNE 10, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: APPEAL COURT DISMISSES APPEAL OF MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, Cross River state, has dismissed the appeal filed by Stephen Anona, 37, who was sentenced to death by hanging for murder, The Nation reported on 9 June 2020.
JUNE 9, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Esmaili was wrong: Mousavi-Majd is not involved in general Soleimani's death
IRAN - Esmaili was wrong: Mousavi-Majd is not involved in general Soleimani's death
JUNE 8, 2020ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: CHINESE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING FOREIGNER
A Chinese man in East China's Jiangsu Province was recently sentenced to death in a first-instance judgment for killing a foreigner, local media Daily Express reported on 3 June 2020.
JUNE 6, 2020DEATH PENALTYUSA: PAUL BROWNING BECOMES THE 168TH PERSON EXONERATED FROM DEATH ROW
The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the August 21, 2019 decision of a Las Vegas trial court that had dismissed all charges against former death-row prisoner Paul Browning, formally completing his exoneration.
JUNE 5, 2020North CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - North Carolina. State Supreme Court Strikes Down Racial Justice Act Repeal
USA - North Carolina. State Supreme Court Strikes Down Racial Justice Act Repeal
JUNE 4, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: AZAD KASHMIR CABINET PASSES BILL PROPOSING DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILD ABUSERS
The cabinet of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) on 4 June 2020 approved a bill proposing a death penalty for those found guilty of sexually abusing children.
JUNE 3, 2020IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: MORE THAN 3,000 ISIS TERRORISTS ON DEATH ROW
An Iraqi security source revealed that there are more than 3000 ISIS terrorists who have been sentenced to death without carrying out the punishment, Shiawaves reported on 2nd June 2020.
JUNE 3, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: ALLAHABAD HC ACQUITS MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY LOWER COURT
The Allahabad High Court on 2nd June 2020 acquitted a man, who was awarded death penalty by a local court for murdering his mother, wife and a four-year-old son in Tanda, Ambedkar Nagar, in 2013.
- JUNE 1, 2020DEATH PENALTY
PENNSYLVANIA (USA): FEDERAL JUDGE CHRISTOPHER CONNER OVERTURNED THE MURDER CONVICTION OF SAMUEL RANDOLPH
U.S. Middle District Chief Judge Christopher Conner on 27 May 2020 overturned the murder convictions of Samuel Randolph, now 48, Black.
JUNE 1, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR KILLING OWN FATHER
An Ikeja Special Offences Court on 1st June 2020 sentenced Rasak Abiona to death for beating his 62-year-old father to death with a metal rod during a dispute over property in Lagos.
MAY 31, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: PASTOR SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR COMMITTING MURDER IN ONDO
Samson Kolawole, a pastor with a Pentecostal church in Ondo State, on 29 May 2020 was sentenced to death for committing murder.
MAY 27, 2020PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Pennsylvania. Federal Judge Christopher Conner overturned the murder conviction of Samuel Randolph
USA - Pennsylvania. Federal Judge Christopher Conner overturned the murder conviction of Samuel Randolph
- MAY 26, 2020YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY OVER YEMENI JOURNALISTS FACING DEATH PENALTY
More than 150 human rights and press freedom groups have appealed to the United Nations to help overturn the death penalty to four journalists in Yemen, Aljazeera reported on 18 May 2020.
MAY 25, 2020QatarDEATH PENALTYQATAR: NEPALI MAN SHOT TO DEATH AS PUNISHMENT FOR MURDER
Qatar has executed a Nepali migrant worker named Anil Chaudhary from Mahottari district, The Himalayan Times reported on 21 May 2020.
MAY 23, 2020Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: KHASHOGGI'S SONS FORGIVE SAUDI KILLERS, SPARING 5 EXECUTION
The family of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi announced on 22 May 2020 they have forgiven his Saudi killers, giving legal reprieve to the five government agents who'd been sentenced to death for an operation that cast a cloud of suspicion
MAY 23, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: SEVEN DRUG TRAFFICKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
An appeal court in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City has handed down the capital punishment to seven drug traffickers for smuggling nearly 400 heroin cakes from Laos to the country, local media reported on 22 May 2020.
MAY 23, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: UP COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR KILLING SIX PEOPLE
A court in Uttar Pradesh on 21 May 2020 awarded death sentence to a person in connection with the murder of six members of a family seven years ago over a property dispute.
- MAY 21, 2020DEATH PENALTY
OREGON (USA): DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS IS CLOSING DEATH ROW
Oregon Department of Corrections officials said on 15 May 2020 the agency will eliminate the state’s death row area of incarceration.
MAY 21, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Hedayat Abdollahpour likely executed on June 21 in Oshnavieh prison.
IRAN - Hedayat Abdollahpour likely executed on June 21 in Oshnavieh prison.
- MAY 20, 2020DEATH PENALTY
MISSOURI (USA): WALTER BARTON EXECUTED
Walter Barton, 64, White, was put to death on 19 May 2020 for fatally stabbing Gladys Kuehler, an 81-year-old woman, on 9 October 1991, the first U.S. execution since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
MAY 19, 2020OhioDEATH PENALTYUSA - Ohio. Joel Drain, 39, White, gets death penalty.
USA - Ohio. Joel Drain, 39, White, gets death penalty.
MAY 19, 2020MissouriDEATH PENALTYUSA - Missouri. Walter Barton, 64, White, was put to death
USA - Missouri. Walter Barton, 64, White, was put to death
MAY 19, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SEHWAN BLAST
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi sentenced to death on 18 May 2020 two convicts for their involvement in the 2017 Sehwan Sharif bomb blast.
MAY 19, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - The “sultan of cars” Vahid Behzadi and his wife Najva Lashiedai were sentenced to death
IRAN - The “sultan of cars” Vahid Behzadi and his wife Najva Lashiedai were sentenced to death
MAY 19, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Arsalan Khodkam, a Kurdish political prisoner, is at risk of execution
IRAN - Arsalan Khodkam, a Kurdish political prisoner, is at risk of execution
- MAY 18, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND: MAN GETS DEATH FOR CADET'S MURDER
The Nakhon Sawan provincial court on 12 May 2020 sentenced the owner of a private military cadet school to death while his wife and mother-in-law were sentenced to life imprisonment for the fatal disciplinary beating of a 15-year-old student.
MAY 18, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: DRUG OFFENDER GETS DEATH SENTENCE VIA REMOTE HEARING
A Malaysian debt collector, who was implicated by two drug couriers as the mastermind behind a heroin transaction, was sentenced to hang in Singapore on 15 May 2020.