Amnesty International on Monday questioned the fairness of the trials of 54 people, most of whom were sentenced to death following incidents in which a citizen was burned alive and his body was mistreated, for accusing him of to have started fires in the Kabylia region in August 2021.
The organization said “trials that took place last November were marred by violations of due process procedures and allegations of torture, while at least six people were prosecuted for their political affiliations,” calling for the sentences to be death issued by a court of Algiers are to be annulled.
The organization said that “of the 54 sentenced to death in collective proceedings last November, five were sentenced in absentia, one of whom was a woman.”
In a statement, he added, “According to the decision of the Prosecution Chamber of the Algiers court, which has been reviewed by Amnesty International, at least six of the death row inmates were prosecuted for their association with the Movement for Self-Determination in Kabylie (MAC), a political group designated by the Algerian authorities.” as a “terrorist” organization in June 2021.
The trial took place between 15 and 24 November and 49 defendants were sentenced to death after being found guilty of the murder of Djamel Ben Ismail, an artist who had volunteered in a village in the province of Tizi Ouzou (north -east) to help put out forest fires that killed ninety people in less than a week in August 2021.
When Ben Ismail, 38, learned that some townspeople suspected him of being involved in setting fires because he was a stranger in the area, he hastily surrendered to the police, but a large mob of angry townspeople kidnapped him from le hands of the security forces, tortured him, burned him alive and mutilated his body.
Scenes spread across social media showed the crowd surrounding the police car Ben Ismail was in, dragging and beating him.
After being tortured, he was burned alive.
A moratorium on executions has been in effect in Algeria since 1993.
Another 28 defendants in this case were sentenced to prison terms of between two and ten years, while another 17 defendants were acquitted.
The death penalty can never be justified, regardless of the crime committed. These harsh death sentences and sentences must be overturned urgently. All allegations of torture and other ill-treatment must be promptly investigated and retrials ordered for all those convicted. or who have been prosecuted because of their political affiliation”.
The Algerian authorities have accused the separatist movement “MAC” of being responsible for the fires and the accident that killed the young man.
The defendants are expected to be retried on appeal, but the trial date has not yet been set, according to defense attorney Qadir Hawali.
