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
DECEMBER 10, 2019DEATH PENALTYIRAN: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ‘INSULTING THE PROPHET OF ISLAM’
Iran’s Supreme Court upholds an inferior court’s death sentence for a 39-year-old man for insulting Muhammad, the prophet of Islam in a social media platform.
- DECEMBER 10, 2019FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Jury Recommends Death for Mark Sievers, 51, White.
USA - Florida. Jury Recommends Death for Mark Sievers, 51, White.
DECEMBER 9, 2019MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: THREE GET DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Three men, including two Iranians, on 6 December 2019 were sent to the gallows by the High Court in George Town for trafficking methamphetamine into the country four years ago.
DECEMBER 9, 2019SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: POLICEMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING
A military court in Somalia sentenced a police officer to death on 7 December 2019 for killing a woman in the capital Mogadishu in September.
DECEMBER 9, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 4 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING 3 POLICEMEN IN 2016 ROBBERY
An Egyptian criminal court handed death sentences to four people over the 2016 killing of three policemen during a robbery attempt in Nile Delta’s Sharqiya governorate, Ahram Online reported on 7 December 2019.
DECEMBER 9, 2019United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA - Kentucky. Governor Matt Bevin Commutes the Sentences of Two Death-Row Prisoners.
USA - Kentucky. Governor Matt Bevin Commutes the Sentences of Two Death-Row Prisoners.
DECEMBER 6, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ANTI-TERRORISM COURT HANDS DOWN DEATH PENALTY TO FACILITATOR IN DATA DARBAR SUICIDE BLAST CASE
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on 28 November 2019 handed down death penalty on 22 counts to a facilitator involved in Data Darbar suicide blast case.
DECEMBER 5, 2019BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: THREE JMB MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING AN OPERATIVE OF THE SAME OUTFIT IN CHAPAINAWABGANJ
A Chapainawabganj court has sentenced three members of the banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) to death and four others to life in prison for killing an operative of the same group in 2012.
DECEMBER 4, 2019Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: SPECIALIZED CRIMINAL COURT HANDS DOWN DEATH SENTENCES TO FIVE SHIA ACTIVISTS FROM QATIF
Saudi Arabia's Specialized Criminal Court has sentenced five anti-regime dissidents from the kingdom’s oil-rich and Shia-populated Eastern Province to death.
- DECEMBER 3, 2019MoroccoDEATH PENALTY
MOROCCO: AN EGYPTIAN MAN AND HIS ACCOMPLICE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING A MOROCCAN
An Egyptian citizen and his accomplice on 26 November 2019 were sentenced to death by the Tangier Court of Appeal for murdering a Moroccan man, mutilating and cremating his remains, Arabic-language newspaper Al Ahdath reports.
DECEMBER 3, 2019MalawiDEATH PENALTYMALAWI: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING ALBINO
The High Court in Lilongwe has sentenced to death four people while four others have been handed life sentences for killing a 21-year-old woman with albinism in Dowa in 2016, the Nation reported on 2nd December 2019.
- DECEMBER 2, 2019IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ: COP SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING PROTESTERS
An Iraqi court sentenced a police officer to death on 1st December 2019 after convicting him of killing demonstrators, in the first such sentence in two months of deadly civil unrest.
DECEMBER 2, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: COURT HANDS DEATH SENTENCE TO 'IMBABA CELL' DEFENDANT
Giza Criminal Court on 30 November 2019 sentenced to death a defendant in the case known in media as "Imbaba Cell," over accusations including targeting Christians and armed forces.
NOVEMBER 29, 2019Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: 35-YEAR-OLD SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
A 35-year-old man was sentenced to death by Colombo High Court Judge Dhammika Ganepola for hacking to death a youth down Station Road in Ratmalana, News First reported on 28 November 2019.
NOVEMBER 29, 2019SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: 2 AL SHABAAB MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR AN ATTEMPTED BOMB ATTACK IN GURIEL TOWN
Two al Shabaab members on 24 November 2019 were sentenced to death in Somalia for being members of the terror organization as well as for conspiracy to assassinate leaders of Sufi-sect in Guri-El town.
NOVEMBER 29, 2019South KoreaDEATH PENALTYSOUTH KOREA: SCHIZOPHRENIC KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH
A South Korean court on 27 November 2019 handed down a death sentence to a schizophrenic man who killed five people and injured 17 others in an arson and murder case in the southern part of the country early this year.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2019AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN: SOLDIER GIVEN DEATH SENTENCE FOR DELIBERATELY KILLING AN ARMY OFFICER
An Afghan National Army soldier has been awarded death penalty as he was accused of killing a military officer in northern Afghanistan, security officials said on 26 November 2019.
NOVEMBER 28, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: 11 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
A Lang Son court sentenced 11 people to death on 27 November 2019 for trafficking 561 kg of heroin from Vietnam into China.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING CHILD
Giza’s Criminal Court, chaired by Justice Ibrahim Abdullah, has decided to sentence a housewife called Hanyat to death for murdering a child girl in Giza, south to Cairo, See News reported on 28 November 2019.
- NOVEMBER 27, 2019BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 7 MILITANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CAFE ATTACK
A special anti-terrorism tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced seven members of a banned militant group to death on 27 November 2019 for their involvement in an attack on a Dhaka cafe that killed more than 20 people, mostly foreigners.
NOVEMBER 27, 2019MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: FEDERAL COURT ACQUITS AUSTRALIAN WOMAN FACING DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
An Australian woman sentenced to death for drug-trafficking in Malaysia was acquitted on 26 November 2019 after the Federal Court in Kuala Lumpur quashed her earlier conviction by a lower court.
- NOVEMBER 26, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: 7 DEATH SENTENCES HANDED DOWN ON TERROR CHARGES
An Egyptian court on 25 November 2019 handed down death sentences to seven people convicted of carrying out attacks that killed 11 policemen in 2016.
NOVEMBER 26, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: FOUR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING 100 KG OF DRUGS
Four men were sentenced to death by a Lang Son Province court on 19 November 2019 for trafficking over 100 kg of drugs.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: ANDHRA PRADESH MAN GETS DEATH FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
A migrant worker from Srikakulam village in Andhra Pradesh has been sentenced to death by an Egyptian lower court for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of drugs, the New Indian Express reported on 22 November 2019.
NOVEMBER 22, 2019MaliDEATH PENALTYMALI: MURDERER OF IMAM SENTENCED TO DEATH
Mali’s court on 19 November 2019 sentenced the murderer of an Imam to death.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2019OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Oklahoma. A jury recommended the death penalty for Byron Shepard
USA - Oklahoma. A jury recommended the death penalty for Byron Shepard
NOVEMBER 21, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER KIDNAP, MURDER OF 10TH GRADER
An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on 19 November 2019 awarded capital punishment to seven convicts, a woman among them, in a case pertaining to the abduction and murder of a tenth grader, ARY News reported.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2019ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
ZAMBIA: TWO MEN AND WOMAN CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF THEIR 84-YEAR-OLD GRANNY
The Chipata High Court has sentenced two men and a woman of the same family from Petauke to death by hanging for the murder of their 84-year-old grandmother on suspicion that she was practising witchcraft, the Times of Zambia reported on 20 November 2019.
- NOVEMBER 20, 2019TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Dameon Jamarc Mosley, 28, Black, to death
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Dameon Jamarc Mosley, 28, Black, to death
- NOVEMBER 20, 2019PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: KARACHI COURT SENTENCES TWO MEN TO DEATH FOR MURDER
An anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentenced on 30 October 2019 two men to death after they were found guilty of murdering two people.