ALGERIA: 49 DEFENDANTS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DJAMEL BENSMAIL’S MURDER

November 27, 2022:

Algeria’s Criminal Court of First Instance in Algiers on 24 November 2022 sentenced 49 people involved in the murder of Djamel Bensmail to the death penalty.
The court also sentenced 28 other defendants to various sentences ranging from two to 10 years in prison.
Seventeen other defendants were acquitted in the trial.
Bensmail was murdered by a large crowd of people in August 2021 in the city of Larbaa Nath Irathne in Tizi Ouzou in the Kabylia region.
Videos and photos showed a large crowd of people killing the man for allegedly attempting to start forest fires in the region.
People from the city of Miliana in Medea where the victim was originally from denounced the brutal act, emphasizing that he was an exemplary member of his community.
They stressed that Bensmail went to the area to provide help to locals and assist them in extinguishing the fire.
Videos online showed perpetrators pulling the man from a police car and trampling him to death before burning his body.
The murder of the young man sparked uproar and frustration, with many denouncing the brutal acts against him.
Wildfires swept Algeria in 2021, killing dozens of people and forcing many others to relocate.