Bangladesh: 20 sentenced to death; HC urged to uphold 152 death sentences

Bangladesh Supreme Court

High Court urged to uphold death penalty of 152 BDR mutiny convicts

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam today prayed to the High Court to uphold the lower court verdict that sentenced 152 convicts for killing 74 people including 57 army officials in the 2009 Pilkhana mutiny.

74 people, including 57 army officials, were slain in the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny on February 25-26, 2009 at the force's Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka.

In November 2013, a Dhaka court sentenced 150 soldiers of BDR, now Border Guard Bangladesh, and 2 civilians to death, and jailed 161 for life for their involvement.

It also gave rigorous imprisonment, ranging from three to 10 years, to 256, mostly BDR soldiers. The remaining 277 were acquitted.

A total of 844 people, 823 of them BDR personnel, stood trial in Bangladesh's biggest criminal case in terms of the number of accused and convicts.

Source: The Daily Star, November 30, 2015 (wr)

Cop among 3 to walk gallows for killing 9-yr-old boy

A Sylhet court today awarded death penalty to three persons including a sacked police constable for killing nine-year-old Abu Sayeed for ransom.

Judge Abdur Rashid of Sylhet Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal also fined the condemned convicts Tk 1 lakh each.

The convicts are Abdur Rakib, general secretary of Sylhet district unit Olama League, Ebadur Rahman, a sacked constable of Sylhet Airport Police Station, and Ataur Rahman Geda, a police informant.

The court also acquitted Mahib Hossain Masum, publicity secretary of the district unit of Olama League, of the case as allegation against him was not proved.

The convicts abducted Abu Sayeed, son of Andul Matin, on March 11 for a ransom of Tk 5 lakh and later killed him for recognizing the policeman.

On March 12, Ebadur confessed to the crime before a magistrate. 2 days later police recovered Sayeed's body from the attic of the building where both Ebadur and Sayeed resided.

Source: The Daily Star, November 30, 2015 (wr)

Munshiganj court sentences 2 to death, 2 to life in jail for 2009 murder

A Munshiganj court has sentenced 2 persons to death and 2 others to life imprisonment in the Riaz Byapari murder case.

District and Sessions Judge Md Shawkat Ali Chowdhury delivered the verdict on Sunday afternoon in a packed courtroom.

Those given the death penalty were Ripon Khan, 28, and Md Shamim, 26. The 2 who were awarded life in prison were Shah Jalal, 32, and Monjil Mia, 31.

The victim and the convicts, all labourers, were from the district's Gajaria Upazila.

After the verdict, Public Prosecutor Abdul Motin said only Monjil Mia was still absconding.

Quoting the case details, Motin said the convicts strangled Riaz to death on Mar 14, 2009 following a dispute. Riaz's body was recovered from a paddy field the next day.

His father Golboksh Byapari filed the murder case against the 4 on that day.

Byapari on Sunday expressed satisfaction over the verdict and called for speedy execution of the convicts.

Source: bdnews24, November 30, 2015 (wr)

Court sentences 4 to death for 2008 Boalkhali murder

A Chittagong court has sentenced 4 men to death and 2 others to life in prison for the 2008 murder of an auto-rickshaw driver in Boalkhali Upazila.

Chittagong Divisional Public Security Tribunal's judge Syeda Hosne Ara delivered the verdict on Monday on the 7-year-old case.

Those given the death penalty were Nurul Alam, Abul Kalam, Md Kausar and Md Rubel. The 2 who were awarded life imprisonment were Ariful Islam and SM Noimuddin.

Only Kausar and Noimuddin are behind bars. The 4 others are still absconding.

According to case details, on May 3, 2008, the accused hired the auto-rickshaw from the port city's Bahaddarhat to go to Anwara.

They murdered the driver 'Yusuf' and made off with the 3-wheeler. Yusuf's body was dumped on a road in West Gomdondi area at Boalkhali.

The vehicle's owner later found it in Satkania, where police later arrested 5 of the accused.

Yusuf's cousin 'Hashem' filed the murder case at Boalkhali Police Station.

Police named the 6 convicted on Monday in their chargesheet in the case.

Public Prosecutor Md Jahangir Alam said 17 out of 27 witnesses in the case had deposed at court.

Source: bdnews24.com, November 30, 2015 (wr)

11 get death penalty for killing Jubo League leader

A Gazipur court has sentenced 11 persons to death for killing Jubo League leader Jalal Uddin Sarkar in 2003.

Judge Fazle Elahi Bhuiyan of Gazipur Additional District and Session Judge Court 1 pronounced the verdict on Monday afternoon.

The court also fined Tk10,000 each.

Victim's elder brother Milon Sarkar said the convicts hacked his brother to death in broad daylight when he was chatting his friends at a field near Bolkhela Bazar in Kapasia upazila on August 17, 2003.

Later, Milon Sarkar filed a case against the convicts over the murder of his brother.

Source: Dhaka Tribune, November 30, 2015 (wr)

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Alabama | Gov. Ivey commutes Charles “Sonny” Burton’s death sentence

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Gov. Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Charles “Sonny” Burton, who was set to be executed Thursday. The governor’s office released the following statement: “Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday announced that she has commuted the death sentence of Charles L. Burton to life in prison with no chance of parole. Mr. Burton was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 capital murder of Doug Battle in Talladega, Alabama. As required by law, the governor first reached out to a representative of Mr. Battle’s family. She also notified the attorney general. Governor Ivey’s letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm is attached.

Maldives | Death penalty law for drug trafficking now in effect

MALÉ, Maldives (DPN) — The Maldives has officially brought into force an amendment to its Narcotics Act that introduces the death penalty for large-scale drug trafficking, marking a significant and controversial shift in the island nation’s criminal justice policy. The amended law, which took effect Saturday, March 7, 2026, allows for capital punishment in cases involving the smuggling and importation of specific quantities of illicit substances. The move fulfills a key pledge by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration to crack down on the country’s growing narcotics crisis and protect what he has termed the nation’s “100 percent Islamic society.” Thresholds for Capital Punishment Under the new provisions, the death penalty is not a mandatory sentence but an available option for the judiciary when specific criteria are met. The law establishes clear weight thresholds for substances brought into the country: Cannabis: More than 350 grams. Diamorphine (Heroin): More than 250 grams....

Texas executes Cedric Ricks

A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution. Cedric Ricks, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Bedford. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was stabbed 25 times and feigned death in order to survive.

Missouri Man Said DNA Test Could Prove Innocence. He Was Executed Before a Court Ruled.

Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years. Lance Shockley, a man on death row in Missouri, wanted items from the crime scene to undergo DNA testing to potentially prove his innocence. The court scheduled proceedings on his request — but the date set was for two days after his execution. Patty Prewitt can’t have her DNA tested — and fully clear her name — because her sentence was commuted and she is no longer in prison. And others, including Lamar McVay, who is serving 30 years for a robbery, can’t even get an answer from the state on his DNA testing request. He's still awaiting a ruling on a motion he filed in September 2022.

Supreme Court Denies Alabama Appeal, Allowing New Trial in Death Row Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for a new trial for one of Alabama’s longest-serving people on death row after declining to review a lower court ruling that prosecutors violated his constitutional rights by intentionally rejecting Black jurors. According to an article written by the Associated Press, one of the longest-serving death row inmates in Alabama might receive a new trial after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that prosecutors had violated his rights by intentionally rejecting Black jurors. According to the article, on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the ruling from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This decision paved the way for Michael Sockwell, the 63-year-old death row inmate, to receive a new trial.

Alabama | Death row inmate granted clemency shares emotional message on day he was set to die

Alabama governor commuted death sentence of Charles Burton, 75, who didn't kill anyone An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as "a gift from God" after being granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed. Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead in 1991. While Burton left the store before Derrick DeBruce gunned down customer Doug Battle, he was tried and convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors insisting Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.

U.S. | These States Don’t Want You to See the Cruelty of Their Executions

The use of the death penalty has risen sharply in the United States, with more executions in 2025 than any year since 2009. It is a cruel and unjust development. In theory, the death penalty is reserved for “the worst of the worst.” In practice, it is very different. People who are executed for their crimes are disproportionately poor or intellectually disabled and often lacked good lawyers. They are also more likely to be sentenced to death if they have been convicted of killing a white person. Anthony Boyd, who maintained his innocence until Alabama executed him last year at age 54, had an inexperienced court-appointed lawyer and was convicted on disputed eyewitness testimony. Charles Flores, 56, has spent 27 years on death row in Texas for a murder conviction based solely on unreliable testimony from a hypnotized witness. Robert Roberson, who has autism, remains on death row there despite having been convicted on now-debunked evidence that he had shaken his daughter to death.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a written record of convicted killer Hamida Djandoubi's last moments before he was guillotined in a Marseilles prison on September 10, 1977. This written record -- dated September 9 -- was written by a judge appointed to witness the execution. Djandoubi's execution was the last execution carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. Then-President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who had voiced his "loathing for the death penalty" before he was elected to office, flatly turned down Djandoubi's appeal for clemency and chose to let "Justice run its course", as he did on two previous instances ( Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977). Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was executed in Marseilles' Baumettes prison in September 1977. The following text was writ...

Prosecutors seek death penalty in 2 Georgia cases

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in two separate Georgia criminal cases. One involves the killing of a Gwinnett County police officer and another is over the death of a 4-year-old girl in Hall County . Kevin Andrews is charged in the death of 25-year-old Gwinnett County Police Officer Pradeep Tamang, who was shot and killed while investigating a credit card fraud case. Authorities said Andrews had an outstanding warrant and shot at officers without warning. Another officer, David Reed, was seriously injured.

Florida | Governor DeSantis signs death warrant in 2008 murder case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Michael L. King, setting an execution date of March 17, 2026, at 6 p.m. King was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2008 kidnapping, sexual battery and murder of Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old North Port mother. On January 17, 2008, Michael Lee King abducted 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her North Port home by forcing her into his green Chevrolet Camaro. He drove her around while she was bound, including to his cousin's house to borrow tools like a shovel. King took her to his home, where he sexually battered her, then placed her in the backseat of his car. Later that evening, he drove to a remote area, shot her in the face, and buried her nude body in a shallow grave. Her remains were discovered two days later. During the crime, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made, but communication breakdowns between emergency dispatch centers delayed the response. The case drew national attention and prompted w...

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