From Musharraf to Saddam Hussein…the world's presidents and PMs who were sentenced to death

Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death. She was found guilty on three of the five charges. 

She is not the first prime minister to be sentenced to death. Previously, several countries have sentenced top leadership to death.

The court sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for crimes against humanity committed during last year's July uprising. The court found them guilty of incitement to murder and ordering murder.

Former President Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf was President of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. In 2019, he was sentenced to death in absentia in a treason case involving charges of suspending the constitution in 2007. This sentence was overturned in 2020. However, Pervez Musharraf died in exile in Dubai in 2023.

Georgios Papadopoulos

Georgios Papadopoulos was the President of Greece. This military dictator, who led the 1967 coup, was overthrown in 1973. He was sentenced to death in 1975 after a trial on charges of treason and rebellion. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment, and he died in prison in 1999.

Chun Doo-hwan - President of South Korea (1980-1988)

Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death in 1996 for his role in the 1979 military coup and the 1980 Gwangju Massacre. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he was pardoned in 1997. He died in 2021.

Saddam Hussein - President of Iraq (1979-2003)

Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death in 2006 for crimes against humanity in the 1982 massacre of 148 Shia Muslims in Dujail. He was executed by hanging on December 30, 2006.

Mohammad Najibullah - President of Afghanistan (1987-1992)

Mohammad Najibullah was sentenced to death in absentia by the Taliban in 1996. After the Taliban captured Kabul, he was captured from the UN compound, tortured, and publicly hanged in September 1996.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto - PM and President of Pakistan (1971-1977)

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was deposed in a military coup in 1977. He was subsequently convicted of plotting the murder of a political rival and sentenced to death. Despite international appeals, he was hanged in April 1979.

Amir-Abbas Hoveida - Prime Minister of Iran (1965-1977)

Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he was arrested and sentenced to death on charges including "waging war against God" and corruption. He was executed by firing squad in April 1979.