Algeria's lower house adopts a penal code amendment allowing the death penalty for forest arson
2 October 2026
Members of Algeria's National People's Assembly voted on Thursday to amend the penal code so that the death penalty can be imposed for arson.
The amendment covers anyone who attempts to undermine public security and order, national unity or economic and environmental stability.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called for the amendment in September 2026, after at least 12 people died in wildfires in the country's northeast.
Algeria has kept a moratorium on carrying out executions since the last case in 1993.
Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa said the adoption of the death penalty for these acts is the appropriate legal response to curb such crimes.
Amnesty International called the move "a deeply retrograde response" and urged a focus on prevention and emergency response.
The text now goes to the upper house, the Council of the Nation, before ratification by the President.
In plain words
National People's Assembly Lower house of Algeria's parliament — Known by its French initials APN.
Council of the Nation Upper house of Algeria's parliament — A bill must pass it before the President ratifies it.
Moratorium A suspension of a practice without repealing the law — Algeria has not carried out an execution since 1993, though sentences are still passed.