Man sets self on fire in Algeria over alleged injustice

A man set himself on fire outside Algeria’s justice ministry in the capital on Sunday, sources told AFP, while a video of the incident was circulating on social media.

Faouzi Zegout, from the town of Frenda, about 340 kilometres (200 miles) west of Algiers, according to local media, doused himself in petrol near the government building and set himself alight.

However, security guards from the ministry quickly intervened and extinguished the flames, leaving him with only minor injuries, sources told AFP.

“Faouzi Zegout is in the Algiers burns hospital,” but “is doing well,” reported local outlet Frenda News on Facebook, without citing any sources.

In a video filmed by a friend who fled the scene just after the incident, Zegout — dressed in formal attire including a white shirt, black trousers, and a tie — explains his motives.

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“It’s because of a judge at the Frenda court who arbitrarily threatened me with a 10-year prison sentence,” he says, adding that he wanted to “draw the attention of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune” to the “injustice”.

Zegout says he recently appeared in court for launching a fundraiser without official authorization to help cover medical treatment for the sick.

The court was scheduled to deliver its decision on Sunday, the same day as his attempted self-immolation.

The act is rare in Algeria, unlike in neighbouring Tunisia.

AFP