Death Penalty News

Brooke George from Gravesend, Kent, is accused of stabbing the man to death with a kitchen knife after they met on Facebook Brooke George, 23, from Gravesend, Kent is accused of killing a fellow Brit with a kitchen knife. According to campaign group Detained in Dubai, George stabbed him to death in an act of self defence. Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, said: “She reached for a knife after being attacked. Authorities must treat her as a domestic violence survivor while they investigate.”

The Shubra El Kheima Criminal Court has sentenced the defendant in the killing of Mirna Gamal Abdel Tawab—widely known in the media as the “Khosous Girl”—to death by hanging.  The verdict was issued after receiving the opinion of the Dar Al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, which approved the implementation of the death penalty. The court concluded that the charges against the defendant were proven based on case files and official investigations, according to local reports.  The Public Prosecution charged the 26-year-old defendant, a ceramic tile worker identified as “K.N.D.” from the Khosous area, with premeditated murder. Investigations revealed that he had planned the crime after the victim’s family rejected his proposal to marry her. 

On the occasion of the 23rd World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October 2025, Amnesty International joins the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and other abolitionist activists and organizations in denouncing the continued use of the death penalty and encouraging actions in support of its full abolition.   Trends recorded so far in 2025 indicate that executions have significantly increased in some countries, when compared to figures registered in recent years. Among these rises, some governments have shown renewed determination to use this cruel punishment as a tool of repression and control. This has frequently happened in the context of flawed narratives intended to create a false impression of security through a display of heavy-handed responses from the state, and to score political points. These narratives have also fostered a flagrant disregard for safeguards and restrictions under international human rights law and standards that have been established ...

Dubai Appellate Court upheld the first-instance court’s ruling sentencing a young Arab man to death for the premeditated murder of his European girlfriend on a staircase near her apartment. The crime was committed after she requested to end their relationship due to her involvement with another person. According to case documents, the murder took place in July 2020, when the defendant had been lying in wait for the victim, intending to kill her to avenge himself because she no longer wished to continue their relationship. He slit her throat and eviscerated her.

Man admitted to working with an overseas trafficker for a fee of Dh5,000 per delivery.  Dubai: A man convicted of trafficking large quantities of the amphetamine Captagon has been spared the death penalty after the UAE’s highest court overturned three previous death sentences, citing procedural flaws. He was resentenced to life imprisonment instead. The Asian national had initially been convicted by Abu Dhabi’s federal criminal court after undercover officers arranged a sting operation in which he delivered a car trunk full of drugs on behalf of a dealer based outside the country. 

The United Arab Emirates sentenced to death 3 Uzbek nationals who killed Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan last November.  The 3 are suspected of having carried out the killing at the behest of Iran.  The murderers are believed to have tracked the rabbi, monitored his daily activities, and ultimately kidnapped and killed him.  Following the abduction, Kogan’s car was discovered with evidence of violence and blood. 

The MEA said the Indian nationals were executed after the highest court in the UAE, the Court of Cassation, upheld the death sentences. Two Indian nationals convicted in separate murder cases and sentenced to death in the UAE have been executed, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. They have been identified as Muhammed Rinash Arangilottu and Muraleedharan Perumthatta Valappil, both from Kerala.

The Union Government on Monday informed the Delhi High Court that an Indian woman, resident of Uttar Pradesh, who was on death row in Abu Dhabi, UAE, for alleged murder of a four month old child, was executed on February 15. The woman was awarded death sentence on July 31, 2023 and the same was upheld by the Court of second instance. She was languishing in Al Wathaba Central Jail. ASG Chetan Sharma informed Justice Sachin Datta that the woman was executed on February 15 and that her last rites will be held on March 05.

He was sentenced to death in February 2023 for “corruption on Earth,” and was accused of being involved in the 2008 bombing of a Shiite mosque in Shiraz that led to the deaths of 14 people and over 200 others injured. Iran executed a 69-year-old German-Iranian software developer and US resident, Jamshid Sharmahd on Monday, October 28, following years of imprisonment.

The recruitment of the Spaniard as ambassador reflects the country’s ambitious expansion plan, which aims to use tennis to boost the image-cleansing process it has embarked on with the spectacles of football, golf and Formula 1 The 2022-2023 Amnesty International report on Saudi Arabia associates the country with concepts such as “torture”, “mistreatment”, “abuse”, “rape”, “discrimination against women”, “collective executions”, “forced evictions”, “persecutions”, “arbitrary and unfair trials”, “inhumane conditions”, “inadequate action against the climate crisis” and “the death penalty”, among many others that directly violate fundamental human rights. 

Jakarta. As many as 77 Indonesians on death row in Malaysia might have a chance to serve lighter sentences following some legal reforms in the close neighboring country, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Malaysia recently decided to scrap the mandatory death penalty for a range of serious crimes, including drug trafficking and murder. This does not entirely remove death penalties in Malaysia, and the option for such a sentence still exists for some criminal offenses. However, death penalties are no longer an automatic sentence, and judges now have the option to hand prison terms of 30 to 40 years instead. Malaysia also allows the resentencing of eligible prisoners. 

Jakarta (ANTARA) - As many as 168 Indonesian citizens are facing death penalty overseas for various crimes, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as of August 2023. Of the total cases, 157 were recorded in Malaysia, four cases in the United Arab Emirates, three cases in Saudi Arabia and Laos respectively, and one case in Vietnam, the ministry's Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Entities Judha Nugraha noted. Nugraha remarked in a press briefing here on Friday that 110 of them were involved in drug-related crimes and 58 others were convicted in murder cases. During the 2011-2022 period, the ministry had recorded that 519 Indonesians overseas were prevented from executions.

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.

Israeli officials said Sunday the United Arab Emirates has pardoned an Israeli woman after initially sentencing her to death for drug possession, a case that tested the nascent ties between the two countries. Fida Kiwan was arrested in early 2021 with half a kilogram (over 1 pound) of cocaine that she claimed did not belong to her, Israeli media reported. The UAE, which has harsh drug laws, later commuted the death sentence to life in prison. Lior Haiat, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said Kiwan had returned to Israel overnight Saturday after the pardon.

Dubai, November 22 — A Pakistani man convicted of murdering an Indian couple in Dubai during a break-in and robbery attempt in 2020, has lost his appeal against death sentence. The 28-year-old construction worker was found guilty of murdering businessman Hiren Adhiya and his wife Vidhi, both in their 40s, by a Dubai criminal Court in April this year, which sentenced him to death. The Dubai Court of Appeal recently rejected the man's plea for the death penalty to be lifted due to lack of criminal intent, The National reported. "The criminal intent factor has been proven by evidence and by his confession," the court ruled. The death sentence will not be final until ratified by the Court of Cassation, the emirate's highest court. No date has been set for this hearing, the paper reported. During the initial hearing, judges were told the man hid outside the couple's home in Mirador, Arabian Ranches, for six hours before sneaking in through an unlocked patio door when ...

The Court of Appeal in Dubai has upheld the death penalty that was handed to the construction worker who murdered an Indian couple on their bed at Arabian Ranches in 2020. The worker was also found guilty of trying to kill the couple's daughter and stealing Dh2,000. Court records show that he sneaked into the house in Mirador district of Arabian Ranches and stole Dh1,965 from a wallet on the ground floor. He then went to the couple's bedroom in search of more. However, one of the victims — a businessman — woke up to the sound of his bedside drawer opening. The worker saw him awake and stabbed him to death before turning to his wife. Forensic reports revealed that the businessman was stabbed 10 times in the head, chest, abdomen, and left shoulder. His wife was stabbed 14 times in her head, neck, chest, face, ear, and right arm. The stabs were powerful enough to penetrate their blanket. As the assailant rushed outside the bedroom, he met the couple’s daughter, who was 18 at the t...

Under the Saudi interpretation of Islamic law, consensual same-sex sexual conduct is punishable by death or flogging, depending on the perceived seriousness of the case. Gulf Arab states have demanded that Netflix remove all content deemed to violate "Islamic and societal values and principles", Saudi media report. Recent material, including that made for children, contravened regulations, Saudi and Gulf Co-operation Council media watchdogs warned in a statement. It did not provide any further details. But Saudi state TV showed blurred clips from animated show Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous , in which two teenage girls confess they love each other and kiss. Footage from the controversial French film Cuties also featured in the report by Al Ekhbariya TV, along with a caption accusing Netflix of being "cinematic cover for immoral messages that threaten the healthy upbringing of children". Another video on Al Ekhbariya's website alleged that the streaming service...

A Dubai resident convicted of torturing an Indonesian maid to death has had his life sentence reduced on appeal to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty when the case was first heard at Dubai Criminal Court in September last year. They said the Arab American, 39, originally from Syria, had tortured the 28-year-old maid for nearly six months. The maid began to work for the man's family in October 2019 but it was only after he lost his job in March 2020 and was staying at home that the series of assaults began. Police were alerted when he rushed the maid to a local hospital in September 2020. “During police questioning, he said he found her unconscious on the toilet seat of his Jumeirah Lakes Towers apartment then wrapped her in a sheet and drove her to hospital,” a police lieutenant told judges. Hospital staff called the police when they discovered that the woman was dead on arrival, court records said. Judges were told the man left the victim without food for...

JERUSALEM (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has canceled a death sentence issued earlier this year to an Israeli woman who was convicted of cocaine possession, her lawyer said Tuesday. The case was a potential test of ties between the two countries, which normalized relations in 2020, in the first of the so-called Abraham Accords between Israel and four Arab countries brokered by the Trump administration. Fida Kiwan, a 43-year-old resident of the northern Israeli city of Haifa, was sentenced in April. The Israeli news site Ynet said at the time that Kiwan was arrested on March 21, 2021, with half a kilogram (over 1 pound) of cocaine that she claimed did not belong to her. Mordechai Tzivin, an Israeli lawyer representing her, said the death sentence was dropped on appeal but that she would likely still get a lengthy prison sentence. There was no immediate comment from Israeli or Emirati authorities. Normalization has turned glitzy Dubai into a freewheeling Israeli tourist destination. Isr...

Israel says normalization agreements with Arab states are future of stability, prosperity in Middle East; calls on Iraqi people not to support ‘extremist position’ The Foreign Ministry condemned on Friday a new Iraqi law that criminalizes normalization of ties and any relations with Israel, noting that it came as the Jewish state is expanding links with the Arab world. The Iraqi legislation passed on Thursday declares that violation of the law is punishable by death or life imprisonment. “This is a law that puts Iraq and the Iraqi people on the wrong side of history and disconnected from reality,” Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat tweeted on Friday. “Israel condemns the decision by the Iraqi parliament to pass legislation against normalization with Israel and that imposes the death penalty on one who has contact with Israel,” he said. “The changes in the Middle East and the peace and normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states, which are bringing stability an...