Death penalty bill for forest arsonists clears Algeria lower house

The Algerian lower house has adopted a law that would allow the death penalty for those convicted of arson, after deadly wildfires have swept through the country’s forests. Members of the National People’s Assembly (APN) in parliament voted Thursday to amend the country’s penal code to allow the punishment for “anyone who attempts to undermine public security and order, national unity or economic and environmental stability”, according to Algerian media. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called for the amendment in September, after at least 12 people died in wildfires in Algeria’s northeast. The North African country has upheld a long-term moratorium on capital punishment since the last case in 1993.