Death Penalty News

At Least 17 Executed for Non-Lethal Drug-Related Offenses in 2026 (Beirut) – Saudi authorities executed five Ethiopian migrants for nonlethal drug-related offenses on July 27, 2026, without due process, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities have executed at least 17 Ethiopian nationals since the beginning of 2026 on drug-related charges. At least 79 more remain at imminent risk of execution on similar charges. Saudi authorities have executed at least 116 people in 2026 as of July 27, according to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights.

Barring a last-hour intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court, two Florida death row inmates will be executed within hours of each other Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke. James Aren Duckett, 68, is scheduled to be executed at noon. He has spent more than three decades on death row after being convicted of murdering 11-year-old Teresa McAbee in 1987. Six hours later, Dominick Occhicone is scheduled to be executed after being convicted of a double murder in 1987 of his girlfriend’s parents, Martha and Raymond Artzner. At 80, Occhicone would be the second-oldest man executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

While the Iranian regime organizes pharaonic funeral ceremonies for Ayatollah Khamenei, the reality on the ground tells a very different story: a nation brought to its knees, crushed by a collapsing economy and relentless repression. A Mourning Imposed as Propaganda The celebrations taking place across Iran for days—from Tehran to Qom and as far as Najaf and Karbala—represent a cruel paradox. In one of the darkest chapters of Iranian history, marked by galloping inflation, widespread poverty, and the still-open wounds of the recent conflict—which left behind damaged cities, an unstable power grid, paralyzed trade routes, broken supply chains, and a productive system strangled by the effects of war—the regime has chosen to allocate colossal budgets for the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28th. As Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has pointed out, the question haunting the people is not where the former Supreme Leader will be laid to rest but the exorb...

Scott Peterson's attorneys said they plan to appeal to a higher court. SAN MATEO, Calif. -- A California judge has denied Scott Peterson's attempt to present new evidence that his attorneys claim exonerates him in the murder of his wife and unborn son. Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002 when she was eight months pregnant. Her body was found in the San Francisco Bay in April 2003. Scott Peterson, 53, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son. A jury found him guilty following a six-month trial in 2004.

Saudi Arabia’s execution of more than 2,000 people over the last decade in many cases violates Saudi and international law and belies the government’s claims of reform, 36 groups including Human Rights Watch said today. The following is their statement:  As of early April 2026, the number of executions carried out by Saudi Arabia since King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s accession to the throne on January 23, 2015—and the subsequent appointment of his son, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, on June 21, 2017—has surpassed 2,000, according to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), marking a stark escalation in the use of capital punishment under their rule. 

The executed man was arrested in June 2025. A Swedish citizen was executed in Iran on Wednesday, according to a statement released by Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard. “It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen has been executed in Iran earlier today,” Stenergard wrote, adding “the responsibility for this rests solely with Iran.” The executed man, who has not been named, was arrested in June 2025 according to the Foreign Ministry.

Cedric Ricks is set to be killed on March 11 Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son. He admitted he was aggressive and had trouble controlling his anger, stating that he was “sorry about everything.” The Tarrant County jury was unmoved. Ricks has spent the last 13 years on death row and is scheduled to be executed on March 11.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hengaw warns of imminent execution of Erfan Soltani just days after arrest  Erfan Soltani, a resident of Fardis, Karaj, who was arrested during recent protests in the city, is facing the imminent execution of a death sentence following a rapid and opaque judicial process. His family learned only days after his arrest that the execution is scheduled to take place this Wednesday.  According to reports received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old detainee arrested in connection with the ongoing protests, is at immediate risk of execution. His family has been denied access to any information regarding the charges, case file, or judicial proceedings. 

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 10, 2025: Five men including four Kurdish minorities named Mohammadreza Badavi, Reza Molayi, Mehdi Hassani, Shamseddin (Shahab) Abbasi Kay and Havari Jahanara were executed for drug-related offences in Urmia Central Prison.  Three of the men were sentenced to death based on elme qazi (knowledge of the judge), a practice that violates basic due process by allowing a judge’s personal belief to replace evidence.

ALGIERS , Nov. 12 (DPN) — Franco-Algerian novelist and dissident Boualem Sansal was released from prison on Tuesday after a personal intervention by Germany’s president , bringing to an end nearly a year of detention that had strained Algeria’s relations with Europe . Sansal, 81, a longtime critic of Algeria’s ruling establishment , had been arrested in November 2024 and sentenced to five years in prison on national security charges that human rights organizations denounced as politically motivated. Observers described his trial as arbitrary and lacking due process, with lawyers and family members often denied access during his detention.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — As Missouri prepares to execute Lance Shockley on Oct. 14, Amnesty International and human rights supporters are calling on Gov. Mike Kehoe to halt the execution, citing alleged trial irregularities and the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear his appeal. Amnesty International USA Deputy Director for Research Justin Mazzola urged the governor Monday to grant clemency, according to a press release. “Amnesty International urgently calls on Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe to act now to stop the scheduled execution of Lance Shockley,” said Mazzola. “We are seeing an outpouring of support for Lance Shockley to live. Last week, petitioners delivered a petition with 31,000 signatures to Governor Kehoe’s office calling on him to stop Shockley’s execution.”

NEW YORK – Luigi Mangione’s lawyers urged a federal judge in New York on Sept 20 to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty for their client, who is charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson. In a court filing, Mangione’s lawyers argued that US Justice Department officials should be precluded from seeking the death penalty because of actions that had violated his due process rights. They said these included “staging a dehumanising, unconstitutional ‘perp walk’ where he was televised, videotaped and photographed clambering out of a helicopter in shackles on his way to his initial appearance”.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 19, 2025: Manouchehr Fallah and Peyman Farahavar, two political prisoners sentenced to death without due process and fair trial rights, are currently awaiting the Supreme Court decision in Rasht Central Prison. IHRNGO draws the international community and public’s attention to the case of the two political prisoners who are at potential risk of execution. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Manouchehr Fallah (right) and Peyman Farahavar (left), two political prisoners held in Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison, are awaiting the Supreme Court’s decisions in their cases.

Saudi authorities have executed Mahdi bin Ahmed bin Jassem Al-Bazroun, a Saudi citizen, in the Eastern Province, on vague and undefined charges.  According to the Interior Ministry, he was convicted of joining a “terrorist organization” and harboring wanted individuals, without disclosing the name of the group or specific actions—part of a recurring pattern of ambiguity in politically motivated executions.

On June 16, 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion in the Anderson County District Court request­ing a new exe­cu­tion date for Robert Roberson, despite the fact that a motion from defense coun­sel with new evi­dence in sup­port of Mr. Roberson’s actu­al inno­cence remains pend­ing. As the Dallas Morning Editorial Board notes, it is ​“unusu­al” that “[AG] Paxton’s office is involved” in request­ing the exe­cu­tion date. AG Paxton has active­ly sought Mr. Roberson’s exe­cu­tion and has pub­licly dis­put­ed his claims of inno­cence ; his office recent­ly took over Mr. Roberson’s case from the district attorney.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 22, 2025: Iran state media reported the execution of Majid Mosayebi on security-related charges through espionage for Israel. According to unverified reports, Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh, another espionage defendant, was transferred to pre-execution solitary confinement cells. Since the start of the Israel-Iran war on 13 June 2025, at least nine men have been executed in Iran, two of whom were on death row for espionage charges.