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
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2019FranceDEATH PENALTY
UN EXPERT URGES FRANCE TO TRY NATIONALS ON DEATH ROW IN IRAQ
A U.N. human rights expert on 12 August 2019 called on the French government to repatriate and try seven French nationals sentenced to death on terror charges in Iraq.
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2019UgandaDEATH PENALTY
UGANDA: MAN IN GULU SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
A 43-year-old man in Gulu, Uganda, has been sentenced to death for murder, URN reported on 22 August 2019.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: TRIBUNAL COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE AGAINST 3 SOLDIERS
Somali Military Court in Baidoa town on 18 August 2019 upheld death sentence against three members of armed forces for murder.
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: 6 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR JOINING TERRORIST GROUP, MANUFACTURING EXPLOSIVES
A Damanhour criminal court in Egypt's Behiera governorate sentenced on 15 September 2019 six defendants to death, two to life in prison and acquitted eight others over charges of joining a terrorist group and manufacturing and possessing explosives.
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2019DEATH PENALTY
OHIO (USA): JONATHAN MANN AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY
Jonathan Mann against the death penalty: “Death penalty does more harm than good for victim’s son. I lost my father two years ago to a brutal and senseless murder.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019ThailandDEATH PENALTYTHAILAND: MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING FAMILY, SENTENCED TO DIE
A Thai provincial court on 11 September 2019 convicted and sentenced a 37-year-old man for murdering five family members – including his pregnant wife.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: 2 AL SHABAAB MILITANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH, LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR CAR BOMB THAT KILLED 12 IN MOGADISHU
A Somali military court has sentenced a man to death and another to life in prison for their involvement in a car bomb that killed 12 people in Mogadishu, Strategic Intelligence reported on 12 September 2019.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: LAO MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR CARRYING HEROIN
A Laotian man was sentenced to death on 9 September 2019 for transporting 35 kilos of heroin into Vietnam last year, and his Vietnamese accomplice got life.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: 6 SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER FORMING 'KERDASA COMMITTEE' TERROR CELL
Giza Criminal Court handed down on 19 August 2019 a death penalty to six people over founding a terrorist group that aimed to disrupt the constitution and killing three persons including a policeman.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF MINOR
A designated fast track court in Odisha on 10 September 2019 awarded death sentence to a 28-year-old man for rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl at Gadharishpur within Erasama police limits in March last year.
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2019North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
USA - North Carolina. Federal Appeals Court has vacated the death sentence of William Leroy Barnes
USA - North Carolina. Federal Appeals Court has vacated the death sentence of William Leroy Barnes
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019SyriaDEATH PENALTYSYRIA: EMPLOYERS OF MURDERED FILIPINA DOMESTIC SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Syrian court sentenced to death the employers of a Filipina househelper after they were found guilty of her murder in 2017, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on 9 September 2019.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: TWO GET DEATH, FOUR SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
The Hanoi People’s Court sentenced two people to death and gave life sentences to four others for trading 5.6 kilograms of drugs at a trial on 5 September 2019.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: MILITARY COURT SENTENCED TO DEATH A SOLDIER WHO KILLED THREE BROTHERS
Somalia Military court sentenced death penalty to Hashi Ali Mohamud a Government Soldier who killed three brothers in June 2018 at Mogadishu’s Kaaran District.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2019NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING GIRLFRIEND IN ONDO
An Ondo State High Court, sitting in Akure, the state capital on 3 September 2019 sentenced a 26-year-old man, Saliu Oladayo to death by hanging, for killing his girlfriend, late Confidence Ebere.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2019Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: DRUG TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO DEATH BY COLOMBO HC
The Colombo High Court on 21 August 2019 sentenced a person to death for the trafficking and possession of heroin.
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2019OhioDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ohio. Jonathan Mann, son of a victim, against the death penalty.
USA - Ohio. Jonathan Mann, son of a victim, against the death penalty.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2019SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: MILITARY COURT SENTENCES POLICEMAN TO DEATH
A military tribunal in Somalia sentenced a police officer to death on 2 September 2019 for killing a teenager in the capital Mogadishu in July, an official said.
SEPTEMBER 3, 2019Sri LankaDEATH PENALTYSRI LANKA: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER MURDER IN MORATUWA
The Panadura High Court on 3 September 2019 sentenced to death three persons who were found guilty over hacking to death of a person in 2009 at Egoda Uyana Junction in Moratuwa.
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2019EgyptDEATH PENALTY
EGYPT: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2016 KILLING OF FOUR POLICEMEN
An Egyptian criminal court has sentenced three men to death for killing four policemen in Qalioubiya in 2016, ahram.org reported on 17 August 2019.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2019VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM: LAOTIAN MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR METH SMUGGLING
The Quang Binh Provincial People's Court on 28 August 2019 gave a death sentence to a Laotian man for involving in the smuggling of over 300 kilos of meth.
- AUGUST 29, 2019MississippiDEATH PENALTY
USA - Mississippi. The Mississippi Supreme Court threw out the murder conviction of Curtis Flowers.
USA - Mississippi. The Mississippi Supreme Court threw out the murder conviction of Curtis Flowers.
- AUGUST 22, 2019FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Gary Ray Bowles, 57, White, was executed.
USA - Florida. Gary Ray Bowles, 57, White, was executed.
- AUGUST 15, 2019TennesseeDEATH PENALTY
USA - Tennessee. Stephen Michael West, who chose to die by electrocution, was executed.
USA - Tennessee. Stephen Michael West, who chose to die by electrocution, was executed.
- AUGUST 14, 2019OhioDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ohio. A jury recommended the death penalty for Kristofer Garrett
USA - Ohio. A jury recommended the death penalty for Kristofer Garrett
- AUGUST 14, 2019OhioDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ohio. Judge Deena Calabrese imposed the death sentence on Thomas Knuff.
USA - Ohio. Judge Deena Calabrese imposed the death sentence on Thomas Knuff.
AUGUST 9, 2019MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: KING PARDONS 3 INDONESIANS WHO HAD BEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Three Indonesian citizens returned to their homeland on 7 August 2019 after they were granted pardons by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia).
AUGUST 9, 2019IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: YOUTH GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPE, MURDER OF NINE-MONTH-OLD
A court in Telangana on 8 August 2019 sentenced a man to death for sexual assault and killing of a nine-month-old girl child.
AUGUST 8, 2019NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: NOTORIOUS SERIAL KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH IN KANO
A notorious criminal and serial killer, Umar Yakubu, has been sentenced to death by a Kano State High Court, The Daily Post reported on 31 July 2019.
- AUGUST 8, 2019BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 5 GET DEATH, 6 LIFE TERM IN MURDER CASE
A court in Kushtia on 31 July 2019 sentenced five people to death, six others to life imprisonment and six more people to different jail terms in the sensational Nurul Islam murder case.