Death Penalty News

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.

An Israeli tourist and a Hampi homestay owner were raped, and another tourist from Odisha was killed by three men in Hampi last year. All three accused have been given the death penalty in the case.  Three men were given death sentence in connection with 2025 Hampi rape and murder case.  A court in Karnataka has handed down the death penalty to three men convicted in the horrific rape of a foreign tourist and a homestay owner and the murder of another visitor near Hampi in 2025.  The First Additional District and Sessions Court in Gangavathi had, on February 6, found the trio guilty. Pronouncing the sentence on Monday, Judge Sadananda Nagappa Naik awarded capital punishment to the three accused — Mallesh alias Handimall, Sai and Sharanappa.

Idaho – Erick Hall, a long-time death row inmate convicted of the rapes and murders of two women in separate incidents in the Boise area, has died at the age of 54. The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) announced on February 10, 2026, that Hall passed away from natural causes at approximately 9:58 p.m. on February 9, 2026, while receiving care at a local hospital in the Boise region. Hall had been serving two death sentences for first-degree murder convictions stemming from crimes committed in the early 2000s. He was housed at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution (IMSI) in Kuna, where Idaho's death row is located. The first conviction came in October 2004 for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 38-year-old Lynn Henneman. Henneman, a flight attendant, disappeared in October 2000 after leaving a Boise restaurant. Her body was later discovered, and the case went cold for several years until DNA evidence linked Hall to the crime.  A jury sentenced him to death following a trial t...

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...

MOGADISHU, Feb 16, 2026 – The Somali federal government on Monday executed two men convicted of orchestrating a series of deadly assassinations and bombings in the capital, judicial officials confirmed. The executions, carried out by a firing squad following sentences handed down by the Armed Forces Court, took place early Monday morning in Mogadishu. The two individuals were identified as Hassan Ali Iftin Buule (known as Gacmey) and Hassan Ali Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed (known by the aliases Baari, Biibaaye, and Sa’ad). Both had been found guilty of participating in terror attacks that resulted in the death and injury of numerous Somali civilians.

Prime minister presses Itamar Ben-Gvir to amend proposed law mandating execution for terrorists, citing international and legal concerns as security agencies and opposition lawmakers push back. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to soften a proposed bill mandating the death penalty for terrorists, citing concerns over potential international fallout, officials familiar with the matter told ynet on Saturday.  Netanyahu’s aides approached Ben-Gvir, who opposes changes to the legislation, arguing that Israel cannot enact a death penalty law harsher than the standard applied in the United States. Sources said the prime minister and coalition leaders would not allow the bill to pass in its current form.

Attorneys for former death row inmate Richard Glossip are again asking an Oklahoma County judge to release him on bond while he awaits a third trial in a high-profile murder case that has stretched nearly three decades. District Judge Natalie Mai heard arguments for and against Glossip’s release in her courtroom Thursday, Feb. 12. Glossip, 63, has been twice convicted and sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of Oklahoma City hotel owner Barry Van Treese. Prosecutors claim Glossip paid another employee, Justin Sneed, to kill Van Treese, and helped cover up the murder.

McALESTER, Okla. (DPN) — Oklahoma executed Kendrick Antonio Simpson on Thursday for the 2006 drive-by shooting deaths of two men following a dispute at an Oklahoma City nightclub, marking the state's first lethal injection of the year and the nation's third. Simpson, 45, was pronounced dead at 10:19 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary after receiving a three-drug cocktail, prison officials said. He had been convicted of first-degree murder in the killings of Anthony Jones, 19, and Glen Palmer, 20, who were shot while sitting in a car outside the club. Simpson admitted to firing into the vehicle, later telling authorities he was "compelled by paranoia."

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 11 February 2026: Mokhtar Atayi and Bahram Chamani, two men on death row for drug-related offences, were executed in Khorramabad Central Prison. With the two previously reported executions, at least four men were hanged at the prison that day. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were hanged in Khorramabad Central Prison on 7 February 2026. Their identities have been established as Mokhtar Atayi from Aligudarz and 33-year-old Bahram Chamani from Khorramabad Mokhtar was arrested around four years ago and Bahram was arrested around two years ago. They were sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases by the Revolutionary Court.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 12 February 2026: Saleh Mohammadi, a teenage protester and wrestler, has been sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of a policeman during the 8 January protest in Qom. The court rejected Saleh’s testimony that his confessions were obtained under torture, and ordered for his execution to be carried out publicly at the scene of the alleged crime.  On 4 February, IHRNGO issued a warning that, given the authorities’ systematic use of lethal force, reliance on torture-tainted confessions, disregard for due process and history of hasty and secret executions, detainees faced an escalating risk of mass death sentences, executions and extrajudicial killings.

The Child Predator Death Penalty Act becomes effective on October 1, 2026. MONTGOMERY – Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday signed the Child Predator Death Penalty Act. One of the governor’s top priorities this legislative session, the new law provides the strongest legal protection for Alabama’s children from child predators. “For too long, the most vulnerable of our society have lacked the most stringent legal protection from child predators,” said Governor Ivey. “Through the Child Predator Death Penalty Act, Alabama now joins just a handful of states imposing the toughest penalty possible for child predators. Those who target the youngest among us for the vilest crimes will soon be met with the harshest punishment under the law.”

Lingkesvaran was sentenced to death in 2018.  A Malaysian man convicted of trafficking a significant quantity of heroin was executed in Singapore on Feb. 11, 2026, according to an official statement issued by the Singapore authorities.  Lingkesvaran Rajendaren, 33, had been found guilty of trafficking not less than 52.77 grammes of diamorphine, also known as pure heroin.  Singapore law mandates the death penalty for cases involving more than 15 grams of the drug.  The authorities said the amount involved was enough to sustain the addiction of approximately 630 abusers for a week, highlighting the harm caused by large-scale drug trafficking.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from transferring 20 ex-death row inmates, granted clemency by former President Biden, to the most restrictive “supermax” prison in the nation. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Trump, ruled Wednesday that the men were likely to succeed in showing their due process rights were skirted by the administration in its bid to send them to the Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence, Colo.

Appeal court upholds capital punishment after Coast Guard intercepts narcotics boat  Kuwait’s Court of Appeal has sentenced 5 Iranian nationals to death after convicting them of smuggling and trafficking narcotics into the country, in one of the most serious drug cases heard this year.  The ruling was issued by an appeal panel headed by Judge Dr. Fahd Bu Salib and reflects Kuwait’s tough penalties for cross-border drug offences and its ongoing crackdown on narcotics trafficking, local media reported. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 12 February 2026: Isfahan province was the scene of one of the bloodiest crackdowns on anti-government protests in recent years during January 2026. Testimonies from eyewitnesses and medical sources, as well as accounts received by IHRNGO, indicate that government forces used live ammunition extensively against protesters and other civilians on 8 and 9 January 2026. The accounts describe large numbers of those killed and injured in at least 16 cities and one village across the province, raids on hospitals, the rapid transfer of bodies, and pressure placed on families of those killed. 

Countries across Southeast Asia are moving away from the use of capital punishment. But Singapore remains an outlier. From Vietnam to Malaysia and Indonesia, Southeast Asian governments are narrowing the use of the death penalty and edging, often cautiously, toward abolition.  At present, eight of the 11 Southeast Asian countries retain the death penalty. Only Cambodia, the Philippines and Timor-Leste have abolished it in law. But recent years have seen most of the retentionist states abide by de facto moratoriums on executions and pass new legislation so death is no longer the mandatory punishment for certain crimes.

Oklahoma is set to carry out its first execution of 2026 on Thursday with the scheduled lethal injection of a man convicted in a 2006 drive-by shooting that killed two young men following a dispute outside an Oklahoma City nightclub. Kendrick Antonio Simpson, 45, is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection at 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The execution would mark the first in Oklahoma this year and the second in the United States in 2026.

Hostages should be given "the honor of pressing the button" to carry out death penalties for Hamas terrorists, former Gaza hostage Eliya Cohen said in an Instagram post on Tuesday, in response to a Hamas statement criticizing Otzma Yehudit's death penalty bill. "Raping, murdering, smashing heads, desecrating bodies, burning babies, kidnapping civilians, and torturing them 24/7, is that not a violation of the international convention?" Cohen wrote.

Ronald Palmer Heath killed a traveling salesman in 1989; last year the state had a record 19 executions   A man convicted of killing a traveling salesman he and his brother had met at a bar has become the 1st person executed in Florida this year.  Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was pronounced dead at 6.12pm on Tuesday after a 3-drug injection at the Florida state prison near Starke. Heath was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and other charges in the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.  Around 60 protesters gathered outside Florida State Prison on Tuesday evening, a larger crowd than is typical for executions. Joe Lakers, an Iowa resident, came to protest Heath’s execution with the Our Lady of Lourdes church from Daytona Beach.

TEHRAN, Iran (DPN) — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has approved pardons or sentence reductions for more than 2,100 convicts, the judiciary announced Tuesday, in a move coinciding with the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, authorities explicitly excluded anyone involved in the deadly nationwide protests that erupted in late December 2025 and continued into January 2026, highlighting the regime's ongoing hardline stance against dissent.

Lahore, Feb 9 (PTI) A high court in Pakistan has set aside the death sentence of a former military officer in a blasphemy case and acquitted him for "want of evidence," a court official said on Monday.  A sessions court had awarded a death sentence to Col (R) Muhammad Arif last year for allegedly passing insulting remarks about the Prophet in Rawalpindi city, some 250kms from Lahore.  An activist of radical Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which was recently proscribed by the Shehbaz Sharif government, was complainant in this case. 

Israel’s prison authorities have begun logistical and operational preparations for carrying out executions following the first Knesset reading of a bill allowing the death penalty in terrorism cases In recent days, the Israel Prison Service has begun making practical preparations for the possible implementation of the death penalty for convicted terrorists, following the first reading in the Knesset of a bill that would authorize capital punishment in exceptional cases. According to a report by Channel 13 News, the preparations include logistical, organizational, and personnel-related measures. 

Officials described in silence the day Mary Jane Veloso returned to Philippine custody in December 2024 after spending over fifteen years overseas. However, many Filipinos found it emotionally charged, particularly those who had family members employed abroad. Not only did someone return, but the topic we’ve been trying to answer—what happens when the system fails the weakest?—also came back into focus. She had departed the nation in 2010 with common aspirations: modest but determined. To provide for her family, she sought domestic work overseas, just like a startlingly high percentage of Filipina workers. What happened next was a destructive spiral. Mary Jane, who was arrested in Indonesia after more than two kilograms of heroin were discovered in her suitcase, said she had no idea what she was carrying.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq announced on Monday that a high-level security officer during the rule of Saddam Hussein has been hanged for his involvement in the 1980 killing of a prominent Shiite cleric. The National Security Service said that Saadoun Sabri al-Qaisi, who held the rank of major general under Saddam and was arrested last year, was convicted of “grave crimes against humanity,” including the killing of prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, members of the al-Hakim family, and other civilians.

Human rights activists are sounding the alarm over reports of secret and extrajudicial executions in Iran, warning that the authorities may be moving toward retaliating against detainees after the deadly crackdown on protests in January. Domestic accounts—fragmentary and difficult to verify under heavy censorship—suggest that killings may be continuing beyond those reported during the nationwide unrest of January 8 and 9, when security forces opened fire on demonstrators in cities across the country. One case frequently cited by rights activists involves Mohammad-Amin Aghilizadeh, a teenager detained in Fooladshahr in central Iran.

The condemned headed family syndicates that trapped Chinese abroad in massive scam centres BEIJING — In less than a week, China conducted a series of executions on a scale rarely seen in recent decades. In all, 16 core members of mafia-like crime syndicates were put to death for a range of crimes, from murder to fraud and human trafficking. While all the victims in the cases were Chinese nationals, many of the condemned were citizens of Myanmar, a largely Buddhist country not known for executing crime bosses.

The HRANA report comes as the Islamic Republic has been carrying out an increasing number of executions. At least 13 prisoners were executed in various prisons across Iran on Saturday morning after having been convicted by the regime's courts of drug and murder-related charges, US-based human rights group HRANA reported the same day. According to the group, the executions took place in the prisons of Khorramabad, Sanandaj, Dezful, Aligudarz, Kermanshah, Yasuj, Nahavand, Zahedan, Hamedan, and Karaj Central Penitentiary.