BILL REINTRODUCING DEATH PENALTY FOR ARSON PASSED

ALGIERS, OCTOBER 2 /SRNA/ - Algerian lawmakers have adopted a law reintroducing the death penalty for arson following deadly and devastating wildfires that swept across Algeria this summer.

The law was supported by 307 lawmakers, while 17 voted against and seven abstained.

"The adoption of the death penalty for such acts represents an appropriate legal response aimed at eradicating these crimes," Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa said.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune warned in August that those responsible for the fires that devastated large parts of the country would face the death penalty.

A law was also adopted that would classify child abduction among crimes punishable by the death penalty.

A moratorium on executions has been in place since 1993, when Algeria last carried out death sentences against three Islamist militants convicted over a massacre at Algiers International Airport.