A court in Algeria has sentenced 49 people to death for allegedly burning a man alive. Judges determined they killed the man more than a year ago and desecrated his body, Algeria’s state news agency, APS, reported today. 28 defendants were sentenced to prison terms of between two and ten years, and another 17 were acquitted.
The murder caused great horror in Algeria. A mob killed the man in August last year, mistaking him for an arsonist. Fierce forest fires raged across Algeria at the time, killing dozens of people. Police initially took the man and other suspects to a police station. The mob finally attacked the guard and dragged him out. The police were still trying to help the victim. Several reportedly suffered burns.
According to media reports, the mob’s allegations turned out to be false: instead of starting a fire, the dead man would have helped put out forest fires. The verdicts can still be appealed. The last time people were actually executed in Algeria was about 30 years ago. Since then, there has been a moratorium: the death penalty is still imposed, but no longer applied. According to Amnesty International, one death penalty was imposed in 2020, compared to nine last year.