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
MAY 17, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Concerns Over Fate of Hedayat Abdollahpour, a Kurdish Political Prisoner, 9 days After Disappearance.
IRAN - Concerns Over Fate of Hedayat Abdollahpour, a Kurdish Political Prisoner, 9 days After Disappearance.
MAY 16, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: THREE GET DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Three men in central Vietnam – one in Ha Tinh and two in Nghe An – were awarded death sentences on 15 May 2020 for drug trafficking.
MAY 16, 2020SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: MILITARY COURT SENTENCES TWO GOV’T SOLDIERS TO DEATH
A Military court on 13 May 2020 sentenced two hotel Maa’ida guards to death for killing military commander Mohamed Suleiman Abukar on 19 October 2019 in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
MAY 15, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Oregon. Department of Corrections is closing death row
USA - Oregon. Department of Corrections is closing death row
- MAY 14, 2020DEATH PENALTY
IRAN: KURDISH POLITICAL PRISONER SAMAN KARIMI SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Kurdish citizen from Baneh, Saman Karimi, son of Mohammad Saleh, has been sentenced to death and thirteen years in prison by Branch One of the Sanandaj Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Saeedi, on charges of "membership in the Democratic Party
MAY 14, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: TWO TO DIE BY HANGING FOR RITUAL KILLING IN RIVERS
A High Court in Port Harcourt has sentenced a second-year student of Physics department, University of Port Harcourt, Ifeanyi Dike and one Ugochukwu Nwamiro to death by hanging over the murder of an eight-year-old girl, Victory Chikamso Nmezuwuba, Biorepo
MAY 13, 2020UgandaDEATH PENALTYUGANDA: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES FOR 82-YEAR OLD
The Ugandan Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by Clement Wandubire, 82, who was sentenced to death for the murder of three people including two Police Officers and a Civilian old man, Pml Daily reported on 12 May 2020.
MAY 13, 2020VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: CHINESE MAN GETS DEATH FOR KILLING VIETNAMESE MOTHER-IN-LAW
A Chinese man was sentenced to death on 12 May 2020 in the southern province of Tay Ninh for murdering his Vietnamese mother-in-law.
MAY 12, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: FOUR PERSONS TO DIE BY HANGING FOR KILLING PENSIONER IN EKITI
An Ekiti State High Court in Ado Ekiti on 11 May 2020 sentenced two men and two women to death by hanging after finding them guilty of murder.
MAY 10, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kurdish political prisoner Saman Karimi sentenced to death.
IRAN - Kurdish political prisoner Saman Karimi sentenced to death.
MAY 9, 2020ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: 3 GET DEATH FOR MURDER OF WOMAN
Two soldiers and one policeman on 7 May 2020 were sentenced to death in Thailand for the murder of a woman in Kanchanaburi in 2016.
MAY 8, 2020TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Appeals Court Declines to Review Death Sentence Based Upon Hypnotically Assisted Identification Testimony
USA - Texas. Appeals Court Declines to Review Death Sentence Based Upon Hypnotically Assisted Identification Testimony
- MAY 6, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: IHC RELEASES EIGHT DEATH ROW CONVICTS
Eight men condemned to death by trial courts walked out free men after Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided their appeals during the lockdown period, IHC registrar office stated on 5 May 2020.
MAY 5, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES DRIVER TO DEATH VIA VIDEO CALL FOR KILLING HIS BOSS’ MOM
An Ikeja High Court in Lagos State has sentenced a driver identified as Olalekan Hameed to death via an online sitting, Dockaysworld.com.ng reported on 4 May 2020.
APRIL 30, 2020Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTYSIERRA LEONE: 5 MOB CLIQUE MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Sierra Leone High Court Justice Monfred Sesay on 22 April 2020 sentenced five members of a clique group named Members of Blood (MoB) also known as the Red Flag Movement, to death by hanging.
APRIL 30, 2020Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: EGYPTIAN ENGINEER ON DEATH ROW EXONERATED
An Egyptian engineer who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia in 2017 on charges of smuggling drugs to the Kingdom was acquitted of charges, his brother told Egypt Today on 26 April 2020, saying the ruling is almost final.
- APRIL 23, 2020SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE: MAN ESCAPES GALLOWS AFTER BEING CLEARED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING CHARGE BY COURT OF APPEAL
A 27-year-old man who was originally handed the death penalty in Singapore for driving his friend to pick up drugs, escaped the gallows on 23 April 2020 after he was cleared by the Court of Appeal.
APRIL 19, 2020IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDONESIA: TWO DRUG COURIERS IN SOUTH SUMATRA SENTENCED TO DEATH
The Palembang District Court on 16 April 2020 awarded the death penalty to two drug couriers and sentenced one more person to life imprisonment for trafficking drugs.
- APRIL 14, 2020YemenDEATH PENALTY
CPJ CALLS ON HOUTHIS TO REVERSE DEATH SENTENCE AGAINST YEMENI JOURNALISTS, RELEASE THEM FROM CUSTODY
The Committee to Protect Journalists on 11 April 2020 expressed alarm at a decision by the Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, to sentence Abdulkhaleq Amran, Akram al-Waleedi, Hareth Hameed, and Tawfiq al-Mansouri to death, and urged the Houthis to r
APRIL 14, 2020DEATH PENALTYIRAN: POLITICAL PRISONER MOSTAFA SALIMI EXECUTED
Political prisoner Mostafa Salimi was executed at Saqqez prison, Iranian province of Kurdistan, on 11 April 2020.
APRIL 13, 2020ZambiaDEATH PENALTYZAMBIA: 2 COPS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Two police officers of Choma have been sentenced to death by hanging for causing the death of a suspected thief, The Daily Mail reported on 10 April 2020.
APRIL 12, 2020YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: HOUTHI REBELS SENTENCE 4 REPORTERS TO DEATH
A court run by Yemen's Houthi rebels on 11 April 2020 sentenced four journalists to death after their conviction on spying charges, their defense lawyer said.
- APRIL 11, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Political prisoner Mostafa Salimi was executed at Saqqez prison on April 11, 2020.
IRAN - Political prisoner Mostafa Salimi was executed at Saqqez prison on April 11, 2020.
- APRIL 11, 2020PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: SHC UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE OF TWO BROTHERS IN PIDC BLAST CASE
The Sindh High Court on 9 April 2020 upheld the death sentence of two brothers and overturned the death penalty of a co-accused in the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) bomb blast case in Karachi.
APRIL 9, 2020BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: MERCY PLEA OF MAN WHO KILLED FOUNDING PRESIDENT REJECTED
The mercy petition of a man who has been sentenced to death for the killing of Bangladesh's founding President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was rejected on 8 April 2020 by incumbent President Md Abdul Hamid, a media report said.
- APRIL 7, 2020SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: SENATOR’S BODYGUARD SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
A former soldier was on 4 April 2020 sentenced to death by a navy court in Mogadishu for the homicide of a civilian.
APRIL 7, 2020TaiwanDEATH PENALTYTAIWAN: HIGH COURT OVERTURNS DEATH SENTENCE FOR HUASHAN GRASSLAND KILLER
The Taiwan High Court on 7 April 2020 overturned the death penalty for a man convicted of raping, killing and dismembering a woman in the Huashan Grassland in Taipei in 2018, and instead sentenced him to life in prison.
- APRIL 6, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: TWO TO DIE BY HANGING IN OSUN FOR KILLING STUDENT
An Osun State High Court sitting in Ikirun on 2nd April 2020 sentenced two men Elijah Oyebode and Jelili Raji to death by hanging for the murder of a female student of University of Osun.
- APRIL 4, 2020DEATH PENALTY
IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS PUBLISHES ITS 'ANNUAL DEATH PENALTY REPORT IN IRAN IN 2019': 280 EXECUTIONS
The 12th annual report on the death penalty by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and ECPM (Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort/Together Against the Death Penalty), published on 31 March 2020, provides an assessment and analysis of the death penalty trends in 2019 in t
APRIL 3, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - 2019 Exoneration Report
USA - 2019 Exoneration Report