Death penalty | News and current affairs from Germany and around the world | DW | 10.04.2017

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Death penalty

The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, refers to the practice by states of putting a person to death for committing certain crimes.

Dozens of countries still use executions as a punishment for certain offenses, although most, including those in the European Union, have abolished it completely. Many people consider the death penalty a violation of human rights. Here you can find an automatic compilation of all DW content on the death penalty.

Indien Kaschmir Vergewaltigung und Tod einer Achtjährigen

Indian court hears case of 18 men accused of multiple rape of preteen girl 17.07.2018

The men are accused of sedating the girl, assaulting and threatening her for months in her family's apartment block. The death penalty has been introduced in India for men who rape children under 12.
NDR/SZ Rechercheverbund Beuthanasia | VET Pharma Friesoythe GmbH

German firm probed over suspected illegal shipment of euthanasia drug to US 12.07.2018

A German medical firm is suspected of illegally shipping several tons of a solution that is used to euthanize animals to the United States. The solution contains an ingredient also used to execute prisoners.
Symbolbild Gruppenvergewaltigung in Indien

India's top court upholds death penalty for gang rapists 09.07.2018

An Indian court denied the appeals of three men convicted of a 2012 gang rape who wanted their death sentences lifted. The gang rape of a medical student sparked outrage in India and led to harsher sex crime penalties.
Japan Festnahme von Shoko Asahara

Japan executes Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult leader and several followers 06.07.2018

Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, has been executed along with six followers. The cult carried out a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995.
Thailand 14-Jähriger wegen Verbrennung von Königsbild in Thailand in Haft

Thailand carries out first execution since 2009 19.06.2018

Thailand has drawn condemnation from human rights groups after conducting its first execution in nearly a decade. The executed man had been found guilty of brutally stabbing to death a teenager in a mobile phone robbery.
Iran Angriff auf das Parlament in Teheran

Iran sentences eight men to death over 'Islamic State' attack in Tehran 13.05.2018

The men were found guilty of aiding five militants who attacked the parliament and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's mausoleum. Eighteen people died in the assault last year.
Irak Islamischer Staat Propagandafoto

German 'IS' jihadi spared death sentence in Iraq 24.04.2018

A court in Iraq has turned a death penalty handed down to Lamia K. into a life sentence. The woman from the southern German town of Mannheim had been found guilty of terror offenses as a member of "Islamic State."
Indien Kaschmir Vergewaltigung und Tod einer Achtjährigen

India prescribes death penalty for child rape 21.04.2018

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reacted to criticism that he did not deal with the recent rape and murder of a girl swiftly enough. India is trying to crack down on violence against girls and women.
Walter Leroy Moody

Alabama executes man, 83, oldest in modern US history 20.04.2018

An 83-year-old inmate has been executed in Alabama. The convicted serial mail bomber was the oldest person executed since the reintroduction of the death penalty in the 1970s.

Aktion gegen Folter und Todesstrafe

Global executions on the decline, says Amnesty International 12.04.2018

Amnesty International's latest annual report has found that fewer executions were carried out around the world in 2017 than the year prior. The number of people sentenced to death also went down.
Vatikan Papst Fußwaschung Gründonnerstag

Pope Francis: 'Death penalty is neither human nor Christian' 29.03.2018

The pope's statement came from inside a Roman prison during an annual pre-Easter ritual. Francis has taken the toughest stance against capital punishment of any pope in the history of the church.
Afghanistan Hinrichtung im Gefängnis Pul-e-Tscharchi

EU adopts wait-and-see stance as European IS followers face execution 26.03.2018

Dreams of living in an Islamic caliphate or dying as martyrs dashed, many ex-jihadi fighters from Europe now face the death penalty. Will the EU campaign to save citizens who reject its values? DW's Teri Schultz reports.
USA Donald Trump

Donald Trump's chances of getting death penalty for drug dealers 'extremely remote' 19.03.2018

As part of his plan to fight the opioid crisis in the US, President Trump wants to institute the death penalty for drug dealers. But that's unlikely to happen, the director of the Cornell Death Penalty Project tells DW.
USA North Philadelphia Drogenkrise Heroinsüchtige

Donald Trump proposes death penalty for some drug dealers to battle opioid epidemic 19.03.2018

The US president wants to execute drug dealers as part of his plan to combat addiction. Trump will also ask Congress to lower the minimum quantity of drugs sold that triggers mandatory prison sentences.
USA Florida - Polizei eskortiert Nikolas Cruz

Florida school shooting: Prosecutor seeks death penalty 14.03.2018

Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for Nikolas Cruz, the former student charged with killing 17 people at a Florida high school last month. Defense lawyers say he'll only plead guilty if his life is spared.
Schweden Demonstration für Ahmadreza Djalali

Iran: Swedish humanitarian doctor faces death penalty after closed trial 28.02.2018

Iranian authorities arrested humanitarian medicine expert Ahmadreza Djalali during a 2016 visit to Iran, charged him with spying and sentenced him to death in a sham trial. His family has not given up hope.
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