Death Penalty News

Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, has been granted a posthumous conditional pardon. Ellis was hanged at London's Holloway Prison in 1955 after being convicted of murdering her lover David Blakely. Her family have campaigned for her murder conviction to be overturned, arguing she was a victim of domestic abuse and was physically and emotionally abused by Blakely before shooting him. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told MPs the King had granted the pardon, saying that the death penalty had been replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment.

Ani Anggraeni spent nearly 15 years in prison for drug trafficking before her death sentence was commuted and she was later pardoned An Indonesian woman who spent nearly 15 years on death row in a Malaysian prison for drug trafficking has returned home after receiving clemency, in a case rights groups say highlights the exploitation of poor migrant women in cross-border drug operations. Ani Anggraeni, also known as Asih, boarded a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta late on Thursday after being freed from custody.

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.

The family of Ruth Ellis, from Rhyl, said she was a victim of domestic abuse that was let down by the criminal justice system and the impact of her execution had been 'devastating for her family' The grandchildren of the last woman to be hanged in Britain are seeking a posthumous pardon, saying she was physically and emotionally abused by her partner before killing him.  Ruth Ellis, a nightclub hostess from Rhyl, was executed on July 13, 1955, at Holloway Prison after being convicted of murdering her lover, David Blakely.

Murder vic­tims’ fam­i­ly mem­bers hold a wide range of views about what jus­tice means. For some, the death penal­ty holds the promise of clo­sure, while for oth­ers, it is a source of con­tin­ued trau­ma and uncer­tain­ty. In two recent cas­es, vic­tims’ fam­i­ly mem­bers have pub­licly expressed their oppo­si­tion to the death penal­ty, cit­ing their reli­gious views and need to forgive.

Although the capital sentence was "legally sound", the Cabinet recommended granting clemency to "reduce the disparity" with the sentence in another case. SINGAPORE: A convicted drug trafficker was spared the death penalty and given life imprisonment on Thursday (Aug 14) after he was granted a pardon by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Tristan Tan Yi Rui, 33, was sentenced to death in 2023 after he was found guilty of possessing not less than 337.6g of methamphetamine for trafficking. His conviction and capital sentence were upheld by the Court of Appeal.

WASHINGTON, June 2 (Reuters) - A senior official in Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's Justice Department told staff on Monday that he has been directed to investigate clemency granted by Democrat Joe Biden in the waning days of his presidency to members of his family and death row inmates. Ed Martin, the Justice Department's pardon attorney, wrote in an email seen by Reuters that the investigation involves whether Biden "was competent and whether others were taking advantage of him through use of AutoPen or other means."

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, disgraced by a corruption scandal that landed him in prison yet heralded by some for clearing the state’s death row, has died. He was 91. Kankakee County Coroner Robert Gessner, a family friend, said Ryan died Friday afternoon at his home in Kankakee, where he was receiving hospice care. Ryan started out a small-town pharmacist but wound up running one of the country’s largest states. Along the way, the tough-on-crime Republican experienced a conversion on the death penalty and won international praise by halting executions as governor and, eventually, emptying death row.

A French court commuted the sentence of Serge Atlaoui, who was allowed to return to France last week after 18 years on death row in Indonesia, where he was convicted of drug offenses. The ruling opens the door for a presidential pardon. A Frenchman reprieved after 18 years on death row in Indonesia on drug offenses will have to serve 30 years in jail after being repatriated last week, a French court ruled Wednesday, February 12. The ruling – which was largely a technicality and not based on the case itself – now gives Serge Atlaoui the chance to ask for a softening of his sentence or a pardon from President Emmanuel Macron, which could see him released after a two-decade ordeal.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — An ailing French national on death row for drug offenses has made a last-ditch plea to be returned home, Indonesian authorities said Friday, as the new administration of President Prabowo Subianto planned to give pardon to 44,000 inmates nationwide. Subianto has surprised the nation with the clemency plan, barely two months after he took office. Past Indonesian leaders have rarely used the presidential prerogative of giving amnesty. Serge Atlaoui, who had spent almost 20 years in Indonesian prison, won a last-minute reprieve in 2015 and was excluded from being executed by a 13-member firing squad.

Jakarta, Dec 14 (IANS) Indonesian Minister of Law Supratman Andi Agtas has said that President Prabowo Subianto would grant amnesty to several categories of prisoners, including drug users and prisoners with long-term illnesses. According to Supratman, the move aims to reduce overcapacity in correctional facilities while addressing humanitarian concerns, Xinhua news agency reported. Prisoners suffering from chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS and individuals with mental disorders are among those eligible.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press.

On the World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October), Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) calls on Malaysia to take the next step towards the abolition of the death penalty. This step involves abolishing the death sentence for all crimes that do not directly cause death or grievous bodily injury to the victims of the criminals. This year, the World Day theme is “dedicated to challenging the misconception that the death penalty can make people and communities safer”. Madpet asserts: It cannot.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday pardoned a German man facing the death penalty, the country's state news agency reported. Lukashenko "took the decision to pardon the German citizen Rico Krieger ... taking into account all the circumstances," Belta news agency reported, citing the president's press service. Krieger, 30, had been shown on Belarusian public television last week, saying "I really hope that President [Alexander] Lukashenko will forgive me and pardon me," according to a statement quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.

A German citizen who was sentenced to death in Belarus has asked Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for mercy in a video broadcast on state television. A 30-year-old German man sentenced to death in Belarus asked for pardon from President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday in a television appearance. 

International laws and treaties impose obligations on countries that still implement the death penalty to ensure that individuals facing this punishment are granted their full rights, including the right to seek pardon. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: "Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon, or commutation of the sentence of death may be granted in all cases." The Arab Charter on Human Rights, in its Article 6, confirms that every person sentenced to death has the right to seek pardon or to have the sentence commuted to a lesser penalty.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin pardoned the convicted killer of famed Russian opposition journalist Anna Politkovskaya after his military service in Ukraine, Russian state-controlled media RBC reported on Nov. 14. Former Russian police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov was convicted of his role in Politkovskaya's murder in 2014 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He has been imprisoned since then but went to fight in Ukraine as part of the Kremlin's drive to recruit prisoners.

LIVINGSTON—If Texas Death Row inmate William Keith Speer is executed as scheduled Oct. 26, two men whose lives have been transformed by God will be present—one on the death chamber gurney and one in the adjacent viewing area. Speer is a convicted two-time killer who committed his life to Christ while in prison and was baptized in June 2022 after spending six months in the faith-based program at the Allan B. Polunksy Unit, a maximum-security facility near Livingston. Later, he was selected as inmate coordinator for the program and has mentored fellow prisoners on Death Row.

SINGAPORE: Presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian said "it is okay" to be merciful to drug mules facing the death penalty in Singapore, and that he does not believe granting clemency will lead to a flood of drug traffickers. He said the President has to take the Cabinet’s advice on such issues, but he would give them his “private advice”. The former NTUC Income chief executive was answering questions from members of the National University of Singapore Society at Kent Ridge Guild House on Saturday (Aug 26).

MANILA, Philippines — The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has pardoned three convicted Filipinos – two of them on death row due to drug trafficking, Malacañang announced the other night. President Marcos had phoned and thanked UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday for granting his request to pardon the three Filipinos, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil said. In a statement, the PCO said it was Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. who first informed Marcos about the pardons late Thursday after receiving a message from UAE Ambassador to the Philippines Mohamed Obaid Salem Alqataam Alzaabi.