Death penalty | Euronews

English Newsletters Events Podcasts Videos Africanews Search

Iran

Iran executes 21-year-old as UN warns of death penalty surge

Tehran executed 21-year-old karate athlete Sassan Azadvar early Thursday after protest arrest, as UN and rights groups warn of a surge in executions and mass detentions since the start of the Iran war.

Iran

Iran executed 21 and arrested thousands since start of war, UN says

UN has warned that the Tehran regime has executed 21 people and detained over 4,000 since the war began, accusing the Islamic Republic of torture, disappearances and targeting minorities.

The Cube

What do we know about claims of Iranian protesters facing execution?

US President Donald Trump claims he helped save these eight Iranian female protesters from execution, whilst social media users claim the image is AI-generated. What do we know about the women pictured?

Singapore

UN alarmed by number of drugs-related executions in Singapore

Officials in Singapore maintain that the death penalty has made it one of the world's safest cities and a government survey in 2023 showed strong public support for capital punishment for serious crimes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iran

Iran executes former atomic agency employee amid Mossad spy claims

Iran executes former atomic energy employee Mehdi Farid for alleged Mossad links as rights groups decry opaque trial, coerced confessions and media blackout.

West Bank

West Bank stages general strike against new Israeli death penalty law

Thousands marched to protest the passing of the law, which critics have slammed as unjust and demanded it immediately been scrapped.

No Comment

General strike empties streets in Ramallah over Israel’s death penalty law

Shops shut and streets fell quiet in Ramallah as a general strike was held in protest against Israel’s newly approved death penalty law targeting Palestinians.

No Comment

Police disperse Jerusalem protest over Israel’s death penalty law

Israeli police broke up a protest outside parliament in Jerusalem as demonstrators voiced anger over a new law allowing the execution of Palestinians convicted of deadly attacks.

Europe Today

Watch: Israel's new death penalty law — how it works

It is a seismic shift in Israeli law. On Monday, the Knesset approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israeli citizens. The topic is very serious, and your reporter wants to look beyond the political theatre to the facts.

Israel

Israel approves death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killings

The bill would make the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed "acts of terrorism" by an Israeli military court.

Iran

Rising executions in Iran suggest use as tool of intimidation, UN says

At least 47% of executions carried out in Iran in 2025 had been related to drug offences, the UN human rights office said.

Iran

Iran to execute protester days after arrest as Tehran speeds up trials

Erfan Soltani, 26, was detained at his home in Fardis on 8 January. Four days later, authorities notified his family a death sentence had been issued and confirmed.

United Kingdom

British drug-smuggling grandma to be sent home from death row in Bali

Lindsay Sandiford, 68, was arrested after arriving in Bali in 2012 when Indonesian authorities found cocaine worth €2.1 million in her suitcase.

USA

Trump demands death penalty for all murder cases in Washington

It comes part of the US president's wider crackdown on crime. Earlier this week, Trump deployed hundreds of troops to the US capital, drawing widespread criticism.

Europe News

Iranian regime muzzles media with grim death penalty warning

Revolutionary Guard issues statement warning that any 'exchange of information', including news reports, seen as benefiting Israel will be punished with the maximum penalty - a death sentence.

World News

Global execution figures hit highest level in almost a decade

Amnesty International says that 1,518 executions were carried out worldwide in 2024, marking a 32% increase on the previous year.

USA

First firing squad execution in 15 years to be carried out in US

Unless either the governor of South Carolina or the Supreme Court intervenes, Brad Sigmon will be killed at 6pm on Friday.

Indonesia

French death row inmate Serge Atlaoui repatriated from Indonesia

Arrested in 2005 and sentenced to death in 2007, Atlaoui has long maintained his innocence, claiming he was unaware of illegal activities on his worksite.

World News

Zimbabwe abolishes the death penalty

Zimbabwe abolishes death penalty almost 20-years after the last capital punishment was carried out.

Germany

Could Berlin have saved Jamshid Sharmahd from execution in Iran?

Following the execution of the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, the German government has been accused of failing to do all it could to save him.