Algeria: Mass death sentences marred by unfair trials, torture claims
Amnesty International UKJan 09, 2023
Amnesty International on Monday reportedly called for Algeria to annul the death sentences handed to 49 people last November for the 2021 lynching of 38-year-old Djamel Ben Ismail, saying the "penalty is never justifiable."
At the height of the August forest fires which claimed the lives of at least 90 people nationwide in 2021, dozens of people attacked Ben Ismail and set him on fire outside a police station in the Tizi Ouzou region as he turned himself in on hearing he was accused of arson.
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.