Algeria considers reintroducing death penalty following wildfires

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has directed the Ministry of Justice to amend the national Penal Code to reintroduce the death penalty. The proposed changes aim to expand capital punishment to include those who intentionally start or instigate wildfires, as well as child abductors and abusers.

The directive follows devastating wildfires in late August that destroyed villages in the Kabylie region and northeastern Algeria, resulting in at least 12 deaths and numerous injuries. President Tebboune stated that individuals sentenced to death would face execution once their right to appeal is exhausted.

Amnesty International has called on Algerian authorities to abandon these plans and instead establish an official moratorium on executions, noting that the country has not carried out a death sentence in over 30 years. The human rights organization warned that the expanded laws could be used to suppress political opposition, citing previous instances where wildfire-related charges were used against groups such as the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK).