Death Penalty News

Iranian authorities secretly executed Elias Zeinoddini, a Baloch prisoner from Lashar County, at Zahedan Central Prison in mid-May. He had previously been sentenced to death on accusations of “ moharebeh ” (waging war against God) and “participation in premeditated murder” in connection with the killing of a law enforcement officer. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Elias Zeinoddini, 44, from Lashar County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was executed in the early hours of Friday, May 16, 2026, at Zahedan Central Prison. He was denied a final visit with his family prior to the execution.

A second execution would be an unimaginable nightmare for Tony Carruthers and a moral horror for the rest of us. Tony Carruthers is not supposed to be alive . On May 21, Tennessee set out to execute him. It failed. Carruthers survived. He is not the first person to survive an execution in the United States, and he won’t be the last. For Carruthers, the question is: Now what? Will the state seek to arrange a second execution?

Parliament of Ghana has approved a bill that would criminalize identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The legislation now awaits ratification by President John Dramani Mahama. The proposed law goes further than the country’s existing colonial-era ban on same-sex relationships.  The bill approved by Parliament actually implements a tiered penalty system. While engaging in same-sex intercourse or public displays of affection carries up to 3 years of imprisonment, the bill imposes far harsher penalties of 6 to 10 years in prison for anyone who promotes, sponsors, advocates, or distributes material related to LGBT activities.

At least 43 political and conscience prisoners have been executed in prisons across Iran since the beginning of 2026, according to statistics documented by the Statistics and Documentation Center of Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.  During the same period, another 42 political and conscience activists have received either preliminary or final death sentences. Documented findings gathered by Hengaw indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran has sharply escalated the issuance and implementation of death sentences against political and conscience dissidents in recent months.

Hengaw – Thursday, May 28, 2026 Iranian authorities have executed five Kurdish prisoners at Bukan Central Prison after they were sentenced to death on drug-related and premeditated murder charges.  Hengaw has confirmed the identities of three of the executed prisoners as Rahman Mahmoudi, Jafar Mohammadi, and Salah Jang. According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out during the early hours of Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at Bukan Central Prison.

Hengaw – Friday, May 29, 2026 Iranian authorities have executed six prisoners, including a Lor man and a Baloch man, in prisons in Isfahan, Mashhad, Neyshabur, and Kashan. The prisoners had previously been sentenced to death on charges of drug-related offenses and premeditated murder, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights has learned. Mojtaba Khosravi, 42, a father of one, and Meysam Abdi, 38, both from Torbat-e Heydarieh in Razavi Khorasan Province, were executed at Isfahan Central Prison during the early hours of Wednesday, May 27, 2026.

In a message addressed to Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, the head of the Judiciary, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote: "Under the bombardment and threats of the enemies, the Judiciary did not back down from protecting the rights of the people and confronting domestic murderers and traitors to the nation, and it shone brilliantly." This praise for the Judiciary's performance comes at a time when at least 39 political prisoners have been executed over the course of the days since Iran's war with the United States and Israel began.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday ruled that execution by nitrogen gas does not violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, rejecting an Alabama inmate’s claim that it causes excessive suffering. The ruling came after the first bench trial in the country to examine the constitutionality of the execution method that has now been used to put eight people to death, seven in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The ruling clears the way for Alabama and other states to continue with the method and is a setback for critics who hoped a fuller examination of Alabama’s protocol would halt its use.

The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a Mississippi man’s conviction and death sentence. By a vote of 5-4, the court in Pitchford v. Cain agreed with Terry Pitchford that the judge at his 2006 trial had not properly analyzed whether the prosecutor in Pitchford’s case violated the Constitution’s ban on racial discrimination in jury selection. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the majority, in a nine-page opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Quoting a 2019 opinion in which the court threw out the conviction of Mississippi inmate Curtis Flowers in a case that involved the same prosecutor, Kavanaugh acknowledged that “‘America’s trial judges operate at the front lines of American justice’ and ‘the job of enforcing’” the Supreme Court’s 1986 decision in Batson v. Kentucky , holding that the use of peremptory challenges (that is, challenges for any reason) to remove potential jurors based on race violates the ...

A court in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam has sentenced a 23-year-old factory worker to death for murdering a roadside coffee shop owner during a robbery last year. Tran Van Quy, from Cai Doi Vam Commune, southern Ca Mau Province, was convicted of murder at a first-instance trial held by the Tay Ninh People’s Court on Wednesday. According to the indictment, Quy had been living with his wife’s parents in Tay Ninh while working as a factory laborer. Mounting debts and financial difficulties drove him to plan a robbery.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Attorneys and death penalty advocates this week called on Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to halt all executions in the state after what they described as a “botched” execution attempt that left death row prisoner Tony Carruthers physically and emotionally traumatized following more than 90 minutes of failed attempts to establish IV access. At a press conference in Nashville, attorneys representing Carruthers and plaintiffs challenging Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol said the state’s execution procedures are deeply flawed, inadequately reviewed and incapable of ensuring constitutional executions. The attorneys argued that what happened to Carruthers on May 22 was foreseeable and directly tied to deficiencies already identified in ongoing litigation challenging Tennessee’s 2025 lethal injection protocol.

A 41-year-old Leesburg man could face the death penalty after a grand jury indicted him on 47 felony charges, including 12 counts of sexual battery on a child younger than 12. Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson announced the indictment of Schubert Navarroza Macarat on May 27 and confirmed his office has filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty should Macarat be found guilty. The charges stem from an investigation that began on the evening of March 22. Lake County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a call regarding a past sexual offense, where a caller reported that a child had just disclosed long-term, ongoing sexual abuse. 

Richard R. Ramirez, who was sentenced to death for the 1983 rape and murder of a 22-year-old bank teller in Garden Grove, died in prison at age 66 on Sunday, May 24, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. He died at a medical facility, authorities said, with his cause of death to be determined by the San Joaquin County coroner’s office. He was not the Night Stalker, who shared the same first and last names and was convicted of 13 murders and 30 other crimes committed up and down the state in the mid-1980s. That Richard Ramirez, also condemned to death, died in 2013 of natural causes.

The case of Lin Qi's murder by poisoning highlights corporate rivalry and the high stakes of intellectual property rights. The execution of a former Chinese gaming executive and lawyer convicted of poisoning billionaire entrepreneur Lin Qi has reignited attention around one of China's most shocking corporate murder cases, linked to the global Netflix hit 3 Body Problem . Chinese authorities confirmed that Xu Yao was executed on 21 May 2026 after being found guilty of murdering Lin, founder of gaming company Yoozoo Games, through poisoning in late 2020. Lin died on Christmas Day that year at the age of 39 after reportedly suffering acute symptoms following the consumption of poisoned food.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 26 May 2026: Abdolghader Rasouli, a Kurdish man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Mahabad Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Mahabad Prison on 25 May 2026. His identity has been established as Abdolghader Rasouli, a Kurdish father of two from Mahabad. He was arrested around four years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Iran Human RIghts (IHRNGO); 26 May 2026: State media reported the execution of Gholamreza Khani Shekarab, a man accused of intelligence cooperation and espionage for Israel. IHRNGO has established the location of his execution as Ghezel Hesar Prison.  Thus far in 2026, at least ten people have been hanged for alleged espionage and collaboration with Israel, while two others have been executed for spying on behalf of an unidentified Arab country.

Toomaj Salehi, a former political prisoner and protest artist, has condemned the death sentences handed down to four defendants in the “Ekbatan” case, calling them “unjust and against humanity.” Writing on his official account on the social media platform X, he stated: “I am writing these words at a time when freedom of expression and media freedom, which we never truly had to begin with, have been suppressed in the most severe manner possible under the pretext of war, while poverty rains down upon the people from both earth and sky.”

An Iranian court has sentenced a man identified by state media as a senior Mossad-linked operative to death. According to Fars News Agency, the judiciary said Gholamreza Khani Shekarab acted as an external coordinator for an alleged intelligence network that operated inside Iran, directing what authorities described as sabotage activities across several provinces, News.Az reports. State media reported that the network was involved in efforts to create insecurity, spread fear, disrupt public order and essential services, and carry out propaganda operations in favour of hostile actors. It also alleged involvement in targeted assassination plots.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 25 May 2026: Milad Armoun, Navid Najaran, Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini and Mehdi Imani, four “Woman, Life, Freedom” protesters, were sentenced to death by “Death Judge” Salavati after a grossly unfair trial. Defence counsel representing the defendants in what became known as the “Ekbatan case” have detailed the severe procedural and substantive flaws that violated fundamental due process rights and undermined the legitimacy of the rulings issued by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court. News of the judgement comes just days after the Criminal Court acquitted the defendants of murder charges.