Algeria is preparing to restore the death penalty for anyone convicted of deliberately setting fires in forests, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has directed. The move follows a wave of wildfires that killed at least 12 people and saw more than 100 separate blazes recorded in the north-east of the country.
Tebboune instructed the justice ministry to draft amendments to criminal law that would make intentional arson in wooded areas punishable by death, and set a 15 September deadline for those changes to be submitted. Capital punishment already exists in Algeria’s penal code for some crimes, but the state has not carried out an execution since 1993.
Under current statutes, deliberately starting forest fires can result in up to 30 years behind bars, or life imprisonment in aggravating circumstances. The president also ordered compensation for families affected by the fires and repairs to damaged homes and essential services, and said authorities would investigate the extent of losses.
Officials reported widespread destruction across northern Algeria, with dozens injured and thousands displaced as blazes swept through populated and rural areas during an intense regional heatwave. Algeria and Tunisia were singled out by authorities as particular hotspots. Firefighting teams continued operations on Sunday, and the Algerian Press Service reported that 18 out of 19 recent outbreaks had been extinguished at that point.
Tebboune said he was not ruling out foul play and called for investigations into the fires’ causes, especially given their severity. The administration framed the legal push as both a deterrent and a response to the unusual intensity of this year’s blazes.
The next legal steps will test the country’s willingness to reintroduce a capital penalty that has been dormant for more than three decades, and the 15 September timetable will force a rapid response from the justice ministry. Authorities must now complete probes into the fires while simultaneously drafting the legislative changes the president has demanded.
