Nigeria
Egypt and Nigeria accounted for well over 1,000 of the death sentences announced last year, more than a third of the world’s total, as per Amnesty International annual report. Nigeria announced 659 death sentences, mostly for murder and armed robbery. Egypt announced at least 509 death sentences last year, many of them in the mass trials that have been held since the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. The countries with the most recorded executions last year were Iran with at least 289, Saudi Arabia with at least 90, Iraq with at least 61 and the United States with at least 35.