An Algerian court last year sentenced 49 people to death after convicting them of lynching a man who was mistaken for starting a forest fire, according to state news agency.
The sentence is likely to be commuted to life imprisonment because there is a moratorium on executions.
In 2021, Algeria suffered the worst fires in its history, with multiple blazes killing 90 people.
Lynch victim Jamel Ben Ismail had gone to help put out the fire.
After a fire broke out last August, the 38-year-old left his home to “help my friends” fighting fires in the hardest-hit areas of the Kabry region east of the capital Algiers. It tweets that it travels more than 200 miles.
Shortly after his arrival, however, locals falsely accused him of setting the fire.
On August 11, graphic images began circulating, allegedly showing Ben Ismail being attacked. The people tortured him, burned him, and then took his corpse to the town square.
The video has garnered outrage across the United States.
Ben Ismail’s brother has urged social media users to remove the images of the attack. His mother still doesn’t know how his son died.
His father, Noureddine Ben Ismail, said he was “devastated”. He said, “His son went to help his beloved brother in Cabiria. He was burned alive.”
The Algerian admires his father’s calmness and pleas for “brotherly love,” according to AFP news agency.
The fire occurred in a dry environment and extremely hot temperatures, but authorities also blamed “criminals”.
The court also sentenced 28 people to between two and 10 years for other lynching-related crimes, state news agency AFP reported.
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