Algeria sentences 49 to death over forest fire mob killing

There has been a moratorium on putting people to death in the country since 1993

Smoke rises from a wildfire in the hills of the Kabylie region, east of the capital Algiers, Algeria.

At least 69 people have died in raging wildfires in the North African country.

Firefighters and locals have battled blazes amid blistering temperatures and tinder-dry conditions.

Residents use branches in a desperate effort to halt the flames in the mountainous Tizi Ouzou area, east of Algiers.

The smouldering shell of a house near Tizi Ouzou, one of the most populous cities in Algeria's Kabylie region.

Firefighters use a hose to tackle a forest fire around Tizi Ouzou, in the Kabylie region.

A firefighter damps down the remains of a house caught in the path of a wildfire in Ain Al Hammam, Tizi Ouzou.

Algeria's interior minister has blamed some of the fires on arsonists.

A man saves medicines from a health centre, as residents flee from a village near Tizi Ouzou.

Medics grab what supplies they can before they flee a health centre near Tizi Ouzou as flames approach.

Searing temperatures and tinder-dry vegetation have made the area vulnerable to wildfires.

A man looks on as smoke rises from a wildfire in the forested hills of the Kabylie region.

Charred trees near Tizi Ouzou.

Large areas of Algeria's woodlands have been destroyed in the devastating fires.

Villagers attempt to put out a wildfire in Achallam, Tizi Ouzou.

Achallam villagers try to halt the flames.

A man uses a hose to help quell the flames near Achallam.

Sheets of flame tower over a forest near the village of Beni Douala, near Tizi Ouzou.

A crowd gathers to watch as flames engulf woodland near the village of Beni Douala.

An Algerian court has sentenced 49 people to death over the mob killing of a man falsely accused of starting deadly forest fires last year, state news agency APS reported.

The North African country has had a moratorium on death sentences since its last executions were carried out in 1993, commuting them to life in prison.

The court sentenced 28 others to jail terms of two years to a decade without parole over the August 2021 killing, APS reported.

The fires in the Kabylie region killed more than 90 and destroyed thousands of hectares of land.

The lynching of Jamal Ben Ismail, 38, in the northern town of Larbaa Nath Irathen, in the Tizi Ouzou province, was filmed.

Video of the incident showed a crowd beating and burning him after he travelled to the area to help with fire relief efforts. The footage was taken down by social media sites.

After false rumours spread online suggesting he was an arsonist, Mr Ben Ismail sought police protection. But he was dragged from a police van by a mob.

Police initially arrested 61 people over the killing.

“Scenes of the lynching and torching of the suspected arsonist — a young artist who had come to help put out the fires — are shocking,” the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights said at the time.

The victim's father, Noureddine Ben Ismail, was widely praised for calling for calm and "brotherhood" among Algerians despite his son's murder.

The fires were spurred by a blistering heatwave, but authorities also blamed arsonists and "criminals" for the outbreaks.

Amnesty International found there were at least 1,000 people on death row in Algeria in 2021 and the group has called for the country to officially outlaw the death sentence.