Desertion was also punishable by death by firing squad, but the U.S. Army had not carried out such a sentence since 1864.

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Hundreds of them were caught, tried by court-martial, and sentenced to the stockade or, in the case of rape or murder, to death by firing squad.

CNN: Private Ryan was a hero, but there were bums, too

He was initially charged with selling drugs - an offence which carries a maximum penalty of death by firing squad - but that has now been dropped.

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"Indonesia has very strict drug laws and the maximum penalty for drug trafficking is death by firing squad but it is very rare that it actually is delivered, " our correspondent said.

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Sandiford, 56, from Cheltenham, was arrested on drugs charges in May 2012 and sentenced to death by firing squad last week by a panel of judges at the district court in Denpasar, Bali.

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On November 8th, 15 former army officers were sentenced to death by firing squad for plotting the murder, in 1975, of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the man who won Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.

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Death by firing squad.

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Last year, nine prisoners on death row were executed by firing squad, with the president vowing to kill all death row inmates within weeks.

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General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March during World War II, was executed by a U.S. Army firing squad outside Manila.

CNN: Wednesday,