- 49 individuals have been found guilty of lynching a man who was falsely suspected of sparking forest fires.
- They have been condemned to death, but executions are banned in Algeria.
- It is likely that the sentences will be commuted to life in prison rather than being carried out.
Following a trial in Algeria, 49 individuals have been found guilty of lynching a man who was falsely suspected of sparking destructive forest fires in the previous year. They have been condemned to death for their crimes.
Because there is a moratorium on carrying out executions, it is likely that the sentences will be commuted to life in prison rather than being carried out.
Multiple fires in Algeria claimed the lives of ninety persons in the year 2021, making it the year with the highest fire death toll in the country’s history.
The victim of the lynching, Djamel Ben Ismail, had gone to assist in the fight against the fires.
After the fires broke out in August of the previous year, the 38-year-old tweeted that he would travel over 320 kilometers (200 miles) from his home to “give a hand to our friends” fighting the blazes in the Kabylie region, which is located east of the capital Algiers and was the area that was affected the most by the fires.
As soon as he came, the villagers made the unjust accusation that he was the one who started the fires.
On August 11, violent footage that allegedly showed Ben Ismail being attacked started making the rounds online. People beat him and set him on fire before carrying his body to the central square of the hamlet.
The films sparked widespread outrage across the nation.
The flames broke out despite the extremely dry circumstances and extremely high temperatures, but the authorities also blamed “criminals” for starting the fires.
According to the state news agency, the court sentenced 28 other people to between two and ten years in prison for various offences related to the lynching. These sentences were reported by media.
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