Death Penalty News

Special tribunal in capital Dhaka hands down death penalty in absentia for crimes against humanity DHAKA, Bangladesh—A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Sunday gave the death sentence in absentia to three police officers, including the former police chief of the capital Dhaka, in connection with the killing of protesters during a 2024 uprising that led to the collapse of the government. A three-member International Crimes Tribunal led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder delivered the verdict.

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, could face execution if convicted as charged. Authorities are also investigating his use of ChatGPT. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for the man accused of murdering two University of South Florida graduate students, Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez’s office announced Friday. Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, is accused of stabbing Nahida Bristy and Zamil Limon to death before disposing their bodies in trash bags. The friends went missing on April 16. It took a week for Limon’s body to be found in a trash bag on the north side of the Howard Frankland Bridge. A kayaker found Bristy’s body in the water nearby a few days later.

Sheikh Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death for 'crimes against humanity' committed during last year's anti-government agitation that led to the fall of her Awami League government. As Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal announced a death penalty for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the courtroom erupted into loud applause. Many people were seen clapping, smiling, and cheering inside the court, while some made a praying gesture. A few people were also seen crying. The applause lasted for a few seconds before the judges requested those present inside to maintain court decorum.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Lesedi Molapisi, a Botswana national convicted of drug trafficking, was executed in Bangladesh on Friday, 21 March 2025. The 31-year-old was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail after exhausting all legal avenues to appeal her death sentence. Molapisi was arrested in January 2023 upon arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, where customs officials discovered 3.1 kilograms of heroin hidden in her luggage. Following a trial under Bangladesh’s Narcotics Control Act, she was sentenced to death in May 2024. Her execution was initially delayed due to political unrest in the country but was carried out last week.

Muslims in Bangladesh are known to evade prosecution under blasphemy laws, just like Pakistan, while the draconian legislation unilaterally targets Hindus and other religious minorities. In a major development, the High Court of Bangladesh recommended strengthening the Cyber Security Act to make ‘blasphemy’ punishable by life imprisonment and death penalty in the country. “There should be a provision of punishment like death penalty or life imprisonment for such unnecessary, unconscionable, obstinate and provocative speech and conduct against the Quran and Muhammad, which the parliament may consider,” a 2-Judge Bench of Justices MR Hassan and Fahmida Quader stated.

SINGAPORE - A man who strangled his former fiancee in a budget hotel in Geylang in 2018 was hanged on Feb 28. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said the capital sentence was carried out on Bangladeshi national Ahmed Salim, 35, who had petitioned to the President for clemency but was unsuccessful. This is the first judicial execution for murder in the Republic since 2019, a Singapore Prison Service (SPS) spokesman told The Straits Times on Feb 28, in response to queries. He added that it is the first execution in 2024.

Delve into the extraordinary life of Shahjahan Bhuiyan, from executing death row convicts to penning his memoir 'How Was the Life of Hangman.' Explore his journey of redemption and reflection, challenging societal norms and sparking conversations on justice and rehabilitation. Imagine living a life bordered by the cold walls of a prison, where your job is to execute court orders, literally. This is not a storyline ripped from a grim novel, but the life of Shahjahan Bhuiyan, a former hangman turned author in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

The incidents took place in Chittagong in 2020 A Chittagong court has sentenced a madrasa teacher to death for raping four children of the institution. Judge Zainal Abedin of the Third Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal in Chittagong delivered the verdict in the presence of Nasir Uddin, 47, on Sunday. The convict was sent to jail after the verdict, the tribunal’s prosecutor, Ziku Barua, said.

A new report from the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom identifies 95 countries with some form of blasphemy law in effect, including five countries that impose the death penalty as the maximum sanction. A separate report from the commission records the text of the 95 laws criminalizing expressions that insult or offend religious feelings or show disrespect toward religious figures or symbols. The reports show blasphemy laws are not exclusive to any single region. They document blasphemy laws in 13 countries in the Americas, 28 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, 16 European nations, 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Two convicts, who were sentenced to death for killing Rajshahi University (RU) Professor S Taher Ahmed, were executed in Rajshahi central  jail on Thursday night. Those hanged are Dr Mia Mohammad Mohiuddin, associate professor of Rajshahi University’s Geology and Mining Department and Md Jahangir Alam, caretaker of Professor S Taher’s residence. They were hanged simultaneously at 10:01 pm, said Nizam Uddin Bhuiyan, jailer of Rajshahi central jail. Deputy Commissioner Shamim Ahmed, District Superintendent of Police ABM Masud, GIG Prison Kamal Hossain, Rajshahi Civil Surgeon Abu Said Md Farooq, Deputy Commissioner of Police Abdul Raqib were present during the execution.

Both to be hanged simultaneously in Rajshahi jail The two convicted killers of Rajshahi University Prof S Taher Ahmed are likely to be executed at 10:01pm on Thursday, Rajshahi jail authorities said on Wednesday. Both death row convicts will be hanged simultaneously in Rajshahi jail. Family members of the two death row convicts—Dr Miah Mohiuddin and Jahangir Alam—visited them in the prison on Tuesday. With this, the execution process started.  Seven-eight executioners have been prepared to execute the two. They have rehearsed the execution several times. Jahangir's younger brother Mizanur Rahman said on Tuesday that the jail authorities sent them and the family of Mohiuddin a letter on Sunday to meet the two inmates for the last time. 

A Cumilla court has sentenced to three brothers to death penalty for beating their father to death at Monohorganj of the district.  They were also fined Tk 20,000 each. Judge Rozina Khan of the District Additional Session Judge Court-3 handed down the order on Tuesday (July 11) noon. Additional public prosecutor of the court Nurul Islam confirmed the information. The death-row convicts were known as Foyez Ullah, Ohid Ullah and Shahid Ullah of Kandi village of the upazila. They all are fugitive. According to the case statement, the three sons beat their father Abdul Karim to death as he refused to make his lands registered to them on August 26, 2013. 

Last night, a death-row convict was hung at the Kashimpur Central High Security Jail in Gazipur. In a robbery and rape case, Saiful Islam Rafique, alias Saidul Islam Rafique, 50, was condemned to death.  He was from the hamlet of Malti Nagar Namapara in the upazila of Sadar in the district of Bogra. Senior Jail Superintendent Subrata Kumar Bala verified the convict';s execution by hanging at 10 p.m. yesterday.  Shahjahan Bhuiyan, the hangman of Kashimpur Central Jail High Security Part-4, carried out the execution. 

A Bogura tribunal has sentenced four people to death for the rape and murder of 7-year-old Mahi Umme Tabassum. According to bdnews24.com, Judge Noor Mohammad Shahriar Kabir of the Bogura Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-2 delivered the verdict in the case on Sunday. Each of the convicts was also fined Tk 100,000. The death row convicts are Bappi Ahmed, 24, Kamal Pasha, 37, Shamim Reza and Lavlu Sheikh, 23. All four were in court to hear the verdict. Tabassum’s parents Belal Hossain Khokon and Marium Daisy are natives of Nasratpur Village in Dhanut Upazila, but worked in a garment factory in Dhaka. Their daughter stayed with her grandfather Abdus Sobur and studied in Grade II at the Panchthupi-Nasratpur Government Primary School. On Dec 14, 2020, a two-day Islamic congregation started near Tabassum’s grandfather’s house. Tabassum accompanied her grandfather and aunt to the event. Around 10 am, she went to buy sweets from a store next to the stage. Bappi, a college stude...

A Sirajganj court on September 27, 2022 sentenced a man to death in a case filed for killing a two-year-old boy after an abduction. Sirajganj District and Sessions Judge Fazle Khoda Md Nazir pronounced the verdict against convict Md Amir Chan (28) of Raipur in Shahzadpur upazila in the district, our Pabna correspondent reports quoting Public Prosecutor Abdur Rahman. According to the case statement, the convict kidnapped the Abdus Salam of Raipur village on August 11, 2018 and demanded ransom from his family. Amir killed the child and dumped the body at a neighbour's house.  Police later recovered the body. The victim's mother Ambia Khatun filed the case against Amir at Shahzadpur Police Station.  Police submitted a charge sheet accusing him after investigation. The judge sentenced Amir Chan to death and also another 14 years in prison on separate charges of abduction and ransom. He was also fined Tk 50,000. The death sentence will be executed after completion of the other conv...

Dhaka, August 17 (PTI): A Bangladeshi tribunal on Wednesday handed down death sentences to five militants from the banned JMB outfit, including a former navy soldier, for a bomb attack at a mosque inside a major navy installation near southeastern port city of Chattogram seven years ago. Chattogram Anti-Terrorism Tribunal Judge Abdul Halim pronounced the verdict as four of the five convicts were on the dock, court officials said. The fifth militant was tried in absentia as he was on the run. All the convicts belonged to outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Pronouncing the death sentences, the judge also imposed a penalty of Tk 50,000 (USD 526 approx) on each of them. In his observation, the judge commented that the convicts' act of terrorism inside a naval base tantamount to attack on Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty, belittling those who were engaged to guard the country's maritime boundary. Public Prosecutor Manoranjan Das said one of the convicts,...

The Narayanganj Additional District and Sessions Judge Court-2 on 20 March 2022 sentenced four people to death and two others to life term rigorous imprisonment for killing a schoolboy in 2013. Judge Begum Sabina Yeasmin of the court handed down the verdict. The convicts who received death penalties are Siraj, 45, Ahmed Ali, 55, Nahid, 21, and Sentu Mia, 25. Those who received life term imprisonment are Salma, 42, daughter of Sirajul Islam Siraj and Husna, 47, wife of Ahmed Ali. The court also acquitted four other accused from the charges as allegations brought against them were not proved before the court. According to the prosecution, Ahmed Ali, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Singapore and son of Ismail Hossain of Char Radhanagar village in Fatulla area, had longstanding enmity with his nephew Iqbal. As a consequence of the enmity, Ahmed abducted Iqbal’s brother Emon Hossain, 13, and killed him on 13 June 2013. Emon was a student of class VI at the time of his abduction. Ahmed and his a...

Two convicted of the 2003 murder of Chattogram Railway official and freedom fighter Shafiuddin Ahmed, were executed at Cumilla Central Jail on Tuesday night. Senior jail superintendent Shahjahan Ahmed said that Shipon Hawladar, son of late Younus Hawladar, and Naimul Islam, son of late Edun Mia Sarkar, both residents of Chattogram, were hanged at 11:30pm. Chattogram deputy commissioner Mohammad Kamrul Hasan, police superintendent Farooq Ahmed and civil surgeon Mir Mubarak Hossain were present during the execution. All the mandatory legal procedures, including the post-mortem examinations of the bodies, were completed after the execution, Shahjahan said. ‘Later, the bodies were sent to their homes by the jail authorities.’ On June 14, 2003, Shafiuddin was shot dead at his home in North Ambagan Railway Quarters of Khulshi in Chattogram. Based on a complaint from Mahmuda Begum, the wife of the victim, an FIR was filed by the police against 13 people. On November 25, 2004, the Chittagong D...

Criminal Court orders the death sentence on Shah Alom Mia (Salim) over the death of Mahmood Abubakuru, a businessman from Dhangethi of Alif Dhaal atoll on Sunday. This is the first time a death sentence has been issued on a foreign national in Maldives. Salim had previously confessed to the crime of murdering Mahmood over refusing to give money to Salim when he demanded it, and hiding his body in the well of an abandoned house in Dhangethi. He had said he had acted because "the devil had overcome him" and had asked for forgiveness. However Criminal Court had previously decided that the murder had been proven in the eye of the law. The murder that happened in October 13 of 2021 left the whole island community in shock, as Mahmood was well loved by all. Speaking at the hearing held yesterday to sentence Salim, Chief Judge on the case Ahmed Shakeel said since Salim had confessed to the murder of Mahmood, he was found guilty based on the confession as that is considered to be the...

Dhaka, Jan 31 (EFE).- A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced two former police officers to death for the extra-judicial killing of a retired army major in July 2020, in a case that triggered a wave of indignation and tensions between different security forces of the country. The former police chief of the southern Teknaf region, Pradeep Kumar Das, and police inspector Liyakat Ali were sentenced to death for the killing of retired military officer Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan, prosecutor Faridual Alam told EFE. Mohammad Ismail, the judge at a lower court in the southeastern Cox’s Bazar district, also handed life imprisonment on six other people – including three police officers – for their alleged involvement in killing Khan, while six other accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence. “We are fully satisfied with the verdict. We will make a decision about appealing against the acquittals and lighter punishments after talking to the family of the victim,” Alam said. Before retiring, 36...