Criminal Sentencing and Punishment

A Canadian serial killer has been jailed for killing his two ex-wives and killing his neighbor for her apartment
Pratibha Patil commuted 35 death sentences to life imprisonment during her five years in the post
A police officer takes a juvenile offender into custody
Mervyn Westfield was jailed for four months after admitting he accepted money to under-perform during a Pro40 match
A man clutches Muslim prayer beads like the ones Abdurahman Sheikh Hassan held during his sentencing
A resident in Sittwe said the mood was still tense and at least one house was set on fire overnight
Gary Carl Simmons, 49, was put to death by lethal injection at 6:16 pm (2316 GMT)
Death row inmate Hank Skinner
Part-time accounts assistant Kirsty Lane was sentenced at Preston Crown Court
Charles Taylor was sentenced on May 30 for arming Sierra Leone's rebels in return for "blood diamonds"
Taylor was sentenced on May 30 for arming Sierra Leone's rebels in return for "blood diamonds"
Young undocumented immigrants play a game of soccer at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility
Mainali, (C) is hugged by his mother Chandrakala Mainali (3L)
Young undocumented immigrants play a game of soccer at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility
Young undocumented immigrants play a game of soccer at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility
Stanford has spent the past three years in jail after being deemed a flight risk
"I'm not a thief," Stanford, who did not testify at the trial, told the judge
Financier and cricket mogul Allen Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in jail for a $7 billion Ponzi scheme
Financier and cricket mogul Allen Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in jail for a $7 billion Ponzi scheme
Bahraini doctors react after hearing the result of their court appeal in Abu Qua'a

Two jailed over Philippine coup after spurning pardon

Two former Philippine soldiers who took part in a failed coup in 2003 were sentenced on Friday to long prison terms, officials said, after both spurned President Benigno Aquino's offer of pardon.
 

Cyprus convicts Hezbollah man over anti-Israel plot

A Cypriot court has found guilty a self-confessed Hezbollah militant who had been accused of involvement in a plot to attack Israeli interests on the Mediterranean island popular with tourists.
 

Innocent New Yorker freed after 23 years in jail

A New Yorker was freed Thursday after serving more than 20 years in prison for the murder of a rabbi that the authorities now say he did not commit.
 

Cambodians mourn Khmer Rouge leader's cremation

About 1,000 mourners massed Thursday for the cremation of a co-founder of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, highlighting the stark divide between supporters and victims of the brutal communist regime.
 

Myanmar must launch probe into rights abuses: UN body

Myanmar must launch an independent investigation into reports of widespread human rights violations, the United Nations' top human rights body said Thursday.
 

India's upper house passes tougher rape law

India's upper house on Thursday gave its seal of approval to a new bill toughening punishment for sex offenders, including the death penalty if a victim dies.
 

India upholds death penalty over 1993 Mumbai blasts

India's top court upheld the death penalty on Thursday for a mastermind of the country's deadliest series of attacks and ruled a Bollywood star who bought weapons from the bombers must return to jail.
 

Chinese workers jailed for high-rise demo in Singapore

A Singapore court on Thursday sentenced two Chinese workers to four weeks in jail each for staging a high-rise protest atop construction cranes in December, local media reported.
 

India upholds death sentence over 1993 Mumbai blasts

India's top court upheld the death penalty Thursday for a mastermind of a series of bombings which killed 257 people in Mumbai in 1993, the deadliest set of attacks in the country's history.
 

10 years after arrests, Cubans split on pace of change

Ten years after the "Black Spring" arrest of 75 Cuban dissidents, some in the opposition perceive signs of greater openness while others see a regime that is merely changing tactics to improve its image.
 

No abuse of Koran at Guantanamo prison: US general

Guantanamo Bay guards have not desecrated or mishandled the Koran in any way, despite allegations by inmates on hunger strike there, a top US general said Wednesday.
 

Bangladesh president dies in Singapore: officials

Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman, a veteran ruling party politician named to the largely ceremonial post in 2009, died Wednesday in a Singapore hospital, officials said. He was 84.
 

Saudi prince jailed in Britain for murder flies home

A Saudi prince jailed for life in Britain for murdering his servant has been flown home to serve the rest of his sentence, the British government said Wednesday.
 

Kuwait court toughens tweeter's jail term

Kuwait's appeals court on Wednesday toughened the jail term of an opposition tweeter to five years for calling for a coup and insulting the emir of the Gulf state.
 

Colorado jails chief killed as new gun laws signed

Police in Colorado were hunting a gunman Wednesday who shot dead the US state's prisons chief, even as its governor signed new gun laws into force following the Aurora theater massacre.
 

Activists welcome India's anti-rape law, with caution

Campaigners welcomed a toughening of laws in India Wednesday for sex crimes but said they were not enough to tackle a crisis underpinned by cultural attitudes, including from "sexist" lawmakers.
 

Tunisia must repeal criminal defamation law: HRW

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called on Tunisia to "urgently" repeal its criminal defamation law, which can lead to two years in jail and which it said has a "chilling effect" on freedom of speech.
 

Number of Guantanamo hunger strikers rises to 24: prison

The number of detainees on hunger strike at Guantanamo military prison has nearly doubled since last week, officials at the detention center confirmed Tuesday.
 

Financier charged in fake pre-IPO Facebook sales

A Florida investment adviser was charged Tuesday with selling $8 million of fake Facebook shares ahead of the social network's highly anticipated public offering, officials said.
 

US teen smirks as families speak of those he killed

An American teenage gunman on Tuesday mocked the grieving families of three students he had killed in a school shooting, at a court hearing that saw him sentenced to life in prison.