Six Ghanaians, including three soldiers, have been sentenced to death by hanging for their involvement in a coup plot three years ago. This was the first treason trial in Ghana since 1966 when post-independence leader Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown. The…
Double murderer executed in US state of Oklahoma
A 59-year-old man was executed in the US state of Oklahoma on Thursday for a double murder that he claimed was committed in self-defence. Phillip Hancock was put to death by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester,…
Malaysia ends mandatory death penalty
Malaysia will no longer implement the death penalty for a number of serious offences as of Tuesday. The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 was gazetted on June 30 and signed by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for…
Amnesty report: Number of executions worldwide rose 53% in 2022
The total number of known executions carried out around the world in 2022 rose by 53 per cent on the figure recorded for 2021. This is according to an Amnesty International report released on Tuesday. The human rights organisation, in…
Malaysia ends mandatory death penalty for serious crimes
Malaysia’s parliament has voted to remove the country’s mandatory death penalty, potentially sparing more than 1,300 prisoners on death row. The country has had a moratorium on executions since 2018. But the abolition now removes the death penalty as the…
Iran executes British-Iranian ex-politician, Alireza Akbari
Iran executed former British-Iranian top politician Alireza Akbari over espionage charges on Saturday, the Misan judicial website announced. Iran had sentenced the former top politician to death earlier in the week. Akbari, his wife and his brother had vehemently denied…
Missouri carries out first US execution of a transgender person
A Missouri inmate was put to death on Tuesday for a 2003 killing in what is believed to be the first execution of a transgender person in the United States. Amber McLaughlin, 49, was convicted of stalking and killing a…
Zambia abolishes death penalty
Zambian rights activists Saturday hailed as a “huge milestone” a decision to scrap two British colonial-era laws: the death penalty and making criticism of the country’s leader a punishable offence. President Hakainde Hichilema, whose party was in opposition for over…
Japan’s justice minister resigns after death penalty quip
Japan’s justice minister stepped down on Friday, over a scandal in less than a month and forcing a last-minute delay for the embattled premier’s Asia tour. The justice minister, Yasuhiro Hanashi, became the second minister to leave Prime Minister Fumio…
Texas set to execute man for killing his mother, burying body in her backyard
A Texas inmate whose lawyers say has a history of mental illness faces execution on Wednesday for killing his mother and burying her body in her backyard nearly 20 years ago. Tracy Beatty, 61, is scheduled to receive a lethal…