Algeria: Prisoners are given the death penalty in Algeria. 48 people found guilty of murder for killing a man responsible for starting a deadly forest fire in the summer of 2020 were given the death penalty by an Algerian court.

The country was shocked by the murder of singer Jamal Ben Ismail, who claimed to have traveled to the Kabyli region outside Algiers in 2021 to help extinguish wildfires that spread across Algeria.

Many people died from the fire, which also destroyed towns and villages. Officials claimed the fire was started intentionally, but did not provide any further details.

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According to testimony and videos shown during the trial, Ben Ismail was captured after arriving in Kabyli by a group of youths from Larba Nath Irathen and then burned alive. more wildfire deaths

Additionally, judges acquitted 17 people and sentenced 37 more to prison terms ranging from two to ten years.

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The tribal region remains politically sensitive, with local demands for greater representation of local culture and language, a hotspot in the 1990 insurgency.

Although the interior of Algeria is mostly desert, the north contains more than 4 million hectares of forest, which often burns during the summer. The officers, according to critics, were unprepared for the fire.

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Five helicopters were dispatched by the Algerian military, and three water-bombing helicopters were used by emergency services to extinguish the flames. Firefighting aircraft were also brought in from Europe to assist.