Death Penalty News

I have seen three executions. I hope I never see a fourth. Capital punishment is violence. But the state does all it can to conceal that fact. The viewing areas outside the death chamber are still and silent. Bright light floods the small room where people die. The warden pronouncing the sentence speaks in clipped, measured tones, saying no more than needed. You’re expected to view the act as a bloodless execution of justice.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 22 February 2026: Sajad Ahmadi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Malayer Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Malayer Prison, Hamedan province, on 18 February 2026. His identity has been established as Sajad Ahmadi who was arrested for the murder of his wife around five years ago. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 February 2026: Reza Karami, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Doroud Prison. The plaintiffs in the case had agreed to accept diya (blood money) in lieu of execution but changed their minds at the last minute. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Doroud Prison, Lorestan province, on 14 February 2026. His identity has been established as 30-year-old Reza Karami who was arrested around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

Indonesian prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for six defendants accused of smuggling nearly two tonnes of methamphetamine in Riau Islands waters, saying they knowingly transported the drugs aboard a vessel intercepted at sea.  Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Anang Supriatna said the suspects admitted receiving about 67 packages, weighing nearly two tonnes, in a mid-sea transfer.  “They were aware they received around 67 packages, or about 2 tonnes of meth, at sea,” Anang told reporters in Jakarta on Friday. 

Human Rights Watch said in its annual report that Saudi authorities carried out an unprecedented wave of executions in 2025, following trials that largely failed to meet standards of fairness and due process, while continuing to suppress freedom of expression and arbitrarily detain dissidents and activists. According to the report, Saudi authorities carried out at least 322 executions by early December 2025—the highest number recorded in the country’s modern history. The organization confirmed that among those executed were two individuals convicted of alleged crimes committed when they were under the age of 18, in direct violation of the international human rights law ban on executing children.

A special court in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda on Friday sentenced a former Junior Engineer (JE) of the Irrigation Department and his wife to death for the sexual exploitation of 33 minor boys — some as young as three — over a decade, officials said. The POCSO court termed the crimes as “rarest of rare” and held Ram Bhawan and his wife Durgawati guilty of systematically abusing children between 2010 and 2020 and producing child sexual abuse material. Convicting the duo under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the court sentenced them to death for offences including aggravated penetrative sexual assault, using a child for pornographic purposes, storage of pornographic material involving children, and abetment and criminal conspiracy, they said.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah death row inmates routinely spend three decades or more awaiting execution, with some dying of natural causes before their sentences can be carried out. One Republican lawmaker says the system is broken and is pushing legislation to accelerate the appeals process. Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, sponsor of  House Bill 495, told a House committee on Feb. 19, 2026, that prolonged delays undermine the death penalty's purpose and burden taxpayers with indefinite appeals. She cited the case of Ralph Menzies, who spent 36 years on death row before dying of natural causes last year after his scheduled firing squad execution was halted over competency concerns.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 February 2026: At least 26 protesters have been sentenced to death and hundreds more, including juveniles, are facing death penalty charges following the bloody massacre of the recent nationwide protests. At the same time, defendants and their families are being subjected to pressure and threats to prevent them from publicising their cases.  This is while on 16 February, the head of judiciary reiterated orders to “prosecute and punish the main perpetrators of the unrest and terrorist acts” and to “act decisively and without any leniency.” In a press conference held the next day, the judiciary spokesperson announced that 8,843 indictments had been issued in relation to the nationwide protests. 

The Iranian authorities must immediately halt all plans to execute eight individuals sentenced to death after being convicted of committing offences during the January 2026 nationwide protests, Amnesty International said today.  The organization is urging authorities to quash their convictions and death sentences, and promptly put an end to expedited torture-tainted grossly unfair trials against at least 22 others in connection to the uprising.

PHOENIX — Arizona lawmakers advanced proposals on Feb. 19, 2026, that would expand execution options for death row inmates to include firing squads and lethal gas, amid ongoing challenges with lethal injection and concerns over carrying out capital sentences. The measures, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, cleared a Senate committee with a party-line vote. They aim to give condemned inmates more choices while mandating firing squad executions for those convicted of murdering law enforcement officers. Senate Concurrent Resolution 1049 proposes a constitutional amendment that Arizona voters would decide in November. If approved, it would allow defendants sentenced to death to select from three methods: firing squad, lethal injection (intravenous administration of lethal substances) or lethal gas. Lethal injection would remain the default if no choice is made.

The Taliban has passed a new law in Afghanistan allowing husbands to beat their wives as long as there is no serious bodily harm in a new criminal code published by the group.  The 90-page penal code, signed by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's supreme leader, sets out different levels of punishments for people depending on their standing in society.  Article 9 of the code divides Afghan society into four categories: religious scholars (ulama), the elite (ashraf), the middle class, and the lower class. 

When Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill took office in January 2024, they moved aggres­sive­ly to restart exe­cu­tions in the state. Gov. Landry signed bills that autho­rized nitro­gen suf­fo­ca­tion and elec­tro­cu­tion as exe­cu­tion meth­ods, increased his own pow­er over the state cap­i­tal defense sys­tem, and lim­it­ed post-con­vic­tion appeals , while AG Murrill moved to take over cap­i­tal appeal chal­lenges from local dis­trict attor­neys. In March 2025, the state con­duct­ed its first exe­cu­tion in 15 years.

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday after being found guilty of leading an insurrection during his declaration of martial law in December 2024. The ruling, delivered by Seoul Central District Court Judge Jee Kui-youn, was lighter than the death penalty prosecutors sought at the trial's final hearing in January. The ruling was aired live on South Korea's major broadcasters. Jee said in the verdict that Yoon led an insurrection and committed acts to subvert the country's constitutional order.

Two Sudanese women have been sentenced to death by stoning in separate cases in Sudan, raising serious concerns about Sudan’s compliance with its international human rights obligations, particularly following its ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).

On Monday, February 16, 2026, a female prisoner identified as Mina Nasirpour was executed at Tabriz Central Prison. Mina Nasirpour, approximately 40 years old and originally from Ardabil, had been arrested 2 years ago alongside her husband on drug-related charges. Both were subsequently sentenced to death.  As of the time of publication, the execution of Mina Nasirpour has not been officially announced by Iranian state media or other official sources inside Iran. 

At dawn today, February 16, the death sentences of 12 prisoners were carried out in the prisons of Quchan, Qaemshahr, Gorgan, Neyshabur, Dorud, Dastgerd Isfahan, Zanjan, Saveh, Kerman, and Kashan.  These prisoners had previously been sentenced to death on charges related to drug offenses and murder.  According to information received by HRANA, Khosrow Rafiei was executed in Quchan Prison; Mohammad Rudbari in Qaemshahr Prison; Mola Sheikhi in Neyshabur Prison; Mr. Beigi in Dorud Prison; Ali Mousavi in Dastgerd Isfahan Prison; Sajad Meshkini in Zanjan Prison; and Vahid Barati in Saveh Prison. 

Military Advocate General Itay Offir will oversee the cases under new legislation advancing in the Knesset, with indictments against more than 300 captured Nukhba terrorists already prepared, officials say  Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said Monday that the Military Advocate General’s Corps will oversee the prosecution of Hamas Nukhba terrorists accused of carrying out the Oct. 7 massacre, instead of the State Attorney’s Office.  The decision comes as legislation regulating the prosecution of the terrorists advances in the Knesset and was approved by the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee for a first reading. 

The Fukuoka High Court rejected an appeal on Monday for a retrial for the 1992 murder of two 7-year-old girls in the city of Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture, for which a death row convict was executed. The defense plans to file a special appeal with the Supreme Court against the decision.  In what's known as the Iizuka incident, despite the assertion of his innocence, Michitoshi Kuma's death sentence became final in 2006 based on DNA test results and eyewitness accounts. He was executed at the age of 70 in 2008.  The defendant's side submitted in the second round of its retrial request a woman's testimony as new evidence. 

Iran has sentenced at least 14 protesters to death in group online trials, people familiar with the matter told Iran International, with additional indictments accusing detainees of acting against the country’s security on calls from the US president and Israel. The trials were presided over by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, head of Branch 15 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, who is widely known for handing down severe sentences in protest-related and political cases, the sources said. Salavati has been holding simultaneous virtual hearings in which detainees are tried in groups of 14, according to the sources.