Algeria fires kill 12, Tebboune calls for death penalty for arsonists

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has called for the return of capital punishment for people who start fires, after this year’s flames have killed at least 12 people.

In an order addressed to the Ministry of Justice, he called for changes to the penal law to provide for the death penalty for arsonists, BBC reports.

During statements made on Saturday, the president said the necessary investigations would be carried out, taking into account the scale and intensity of the fires.

A day later, Tebboune set September 15 as the deadline for approving amendments that would include the death penalty for deliberately starting fires in forested areas.

Current legislation provides for up to 30 years in prison for deliberately setting forests on fire, while in certain circumstances the sentence can be life imprisonment.

Although the death penalty remains officially part of Algeria’s penal code for certain offenses, executions have not been carried out since 1993.

Over the past few days alone, more than 100 wildfires have been reported in northeastern Algeria, near the Mediterranean coast. Most of them have been extinguished, but the flames have caused considerable damage and left dozens of people injured.