On Umbara, Clone troopers named Fives and Jesse received a death sentence, to be carried out by a firing squad.
The ultimate punishment, death penalty or execution, was the act of sentencing people to death after being found guilty of particularly heinous crimes. Capital offense, such as treason, was often a crime that warranted the death penalty on many worlds. The Yavin Code stipulated that all prisoners awaiting execution should have their eyes covered, but these rules were largely ignored as the centuries passed.
Early in the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Prosset Dibs was judged guilty of treason because he tried to kill Jedi Master Mace Windu during the operation on Hissrich. Dibs, who thought of the Jedi as oppressive rulers, thought he would be put to death, but Windu requested that he be rehabilitated instead.
Within the Grand Army of the Republic, acts of rebellion were considered court-martial offenses that could lead to imprisonment or even death. During the Battle of Umbara, Jedi General Pong Krell gave the order to arrest clone troopers Fives and Jesse for not following the orders of their commanding officer, knowing they would be found guilty in a court-martial and then executed for treason. Later, after Clone Captain Rex attempted to intervene, Krell commanded that both clones be executed immediately. Initially, the captain obeyed Krell, as a general had the authority to order executions during wartime. A firing squad was supposed to carry out the execution, but the clones refused. Subsequently, his troops arrested Krell for deceiving the 501st Legion and the 212th Attack Battalion into fighting each other. Krell admitted to working with the Umbarans, with the goal of becoming an apprentice to Count Dooku, and Dogma, a clone and his most devoted trooper, ultimately executed him as a traitor to the Galactic Republic.
Later in the conflict, Jedi Order expelled Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and a Republic court tried by a Republic court her for murder and treason. Tano had been framed for the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar, and Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin, the prosecutor, pledged to secure Tano's conviction and pushed for the death penalty for the former Jedi, much to her surprise. Before the court could decide on Tano's fate, the true traitor, Barriss Offee, was discovered. Tano was freed from Republic custody, but she declined the Jedi Order's offer to rejoin their ranks because, with the exception of Anakin Skywalker, they had not supported her.
During Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi's mission to Utapau, General Grievous captured Kenobi and held him prisoner on Grievous' DH-Omni Support Vessel. Two OOM-series security droids informed Kenobi that they were escorting him from his prison cell to the "execution room," prompting the Jedi Master to express surprise that they possessed a dedicated space for executions. Kenobi then reminded the droids that the Yavin Code mandated blindfolding all prisoners before execution, buying time for Anakin to rescue him.
After being dispatched to assassinate Separatist leader Count Dooku, Jedi Master Quinlan Vos succumbed to the dark side of the Force. He feigned reform, returned to the Jedi Order, and engaged in acts of treason. The Jedi High Council deliberated on his proposed punishment, and Mace Windu suggested the possibility of execution, an unprecedented action in the history of the Jedi Order. While the possibility was given serious consideration, it was ultimately rejected, largely due to Obi-Wan Kenobi's arguments. However, after a second betrayal, execution was considered almost certain, but events ultimately allowed Vos to reform.
The Galactic Empire frequently imposed capital punishment for both major and minor offenses during its reign, with many convicts being hanged. Cassian Jeron Andor's adoptive father, Clem Andor, was a victim of this practice. When Commandant [Jayhold Beehaz](/article/jayhold_beehaz] discovered that his subordinate, Lieutenant Gorn, had joined a [rebel infiltration team](/article/aldhani_rebel_infiltration_team], he announced Gorn's hanging for treachery. However, Gorn retorted that his years of carrying out Beehaz's orders had earned him a more severe punishment.
In 4 BBY, Imperial cadet [Zare Leonis](/article/zare_leonis] faced a tribunal on suspicion of treason against the Galactic Empire. He admitted guilt to all charges and received a death sentence, but he managed to escape before the sentence could be carried out and orchestrated a rescue mission for his sister.
By the time of the secret mission to Tatooine, Doctor Cornelius Evazan had accumulated death sentences in twelve star systems, a fact he shared with Luke Skywalker at Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina.
After the Galactic Empire captured Princess [Leia Organa](/article/leia_skywalker_organa_solo] while she was transporting stolen Death Star plans to Tatooine, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin signed her execution order. However, Darth Vader chose to keep her alive to torture her for information about the stolen plans and the Rebel Alliance base. When she provided false information indicating the Rebel base was on Dantooine, Tarkin demanded her immediate execution. But after the Millennium Falcon arrived on the Death Star, Vader instead allowed her to escape, believing she would lead the Empire to the base.
Jabba Desilijic Tiure, a crime lord, executed those who displeased him by feeding them to the sarlacc. During the Rescue of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca were sentenced to this fate, but they were able to defeat the guards assigned to carry out their executions.
Similarly, Rebel pilots received orders to eliminate any Imperials who had served on the second Death Star.
Following the Galactic Civil War and the transformation of the Galactic Empire into the New Republic, some Imperial officials faced execution for war crimes. Gideon, an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau, managed to evade this fate. However, after Marshal Carasynthia Dune arrested Gideon on his cruiser, it was suggested that the New Republic Tribunal would likely sentence him to death again for his offenses.
Pirates often employed the death penalty, known for ejecting their convicts from airlocks. Around 9 ABY, during a plundering raid on a New Republic bulk freighter, Captain Silvo had the starship's captain thrown into space after he refused to cooperate with the pirates. Later, Silvo himself received a death sentence by airlock from his successor, Brutus. However, Brutus changed the verdict after Chaelt's intervention, who insisted on upholding the Pirate's Code by granting the defendant the Right of Last Appeal. Despite temporarily sparing his life, Brutus warned Silvo that he would face execution if At Attin—a remote planet rumored to possess endless supplies of Old Republic credits—did not yield treasure as he had promised.
In 28 ABY, Senator Ransolm Casterfo supported a campaign to reintroduce the death penalty on his homeworld of Riosa. At the time, more Centrist star systems were considering it. Ironically, Casterfo later faced capital punishment himself after being framed for the assassination of Tai-Lin Garr. However, Casterfo's execution never took place, and the Resistance eventually rescued him.
Within the Stormtrooper Corps of the First Order, execution was the standard punishment for traitors. Executioner troopers carried out this duty. These specialized stormtroopers were assigned through random duty shifts, rather than a specific group of individuals holding the position. Any stormtrooper could be assigned this duty, but the assignments remained anonymous. Finn, a First Order defector formerly known as FN-2187, dreaded this task and spent his shifts fervently hoping the day would end without any executions. His own defection later placed him and fellow Resistance operative Rose Tico in danger of facing this fate, but the two were saved when the Resistance flagship Raddus crashed into the Supremacy, instantly killing their executioners.