Algeria court sentences dozens to death over forest fire lynching
Al JazeeraAUG 2022
The death penalty is an immoral and unnecessary punishment no matter the crime committed. Furthermore, these defendants received far from a fair trial. Many were also targeted due to their connections to the movement for the self-determination of Kabyle. An arbitrary and ruthless justice system is not good for political freedom or society.
After many of these defendants dragged Ismail from his car, beat him in the street, and lit him on fire, the prosecution justifiably called for the death penalty against those convicted. An abhorrent act of vigilante justice like this — against a man who it turns out was innocent all along — has no place in a civilized society, and only the harshest of penalties is deserved.