It was an event that caused strong emotion in Algeria. On August 11, 2021, Djamel Bensmail, wrongly accused of arson in Kabylia, then ravaged by forest fires, had been murdered, victim of a violent lynching. The dissemination of images on social networks had created controversy, and gradually led to the arrest of members of a Kabyle independence movementclassified as a terrorist and at the origin of this tragedy.
This Saturday, the death penalty was required against more than 70 people tried by an Algerian court. The defendants, who appeared before the court of Dar El Beida, in the eastern suburbs of Algiers, are prosecuted in particular for “terrorist and subversive acts against the State and national unity” and “intentional homicide with premeditation”, according to the ‘charge.
The prosecutor then requested a 10-year prison sentence against 25 other defendants tried for criminal acts, in particular “armed crowd, contempt for body constitutes and diffusion of photos and videos aiming to sow the disorder”, according to the daily Arabic speaking El Khabar.
Video clips of the lynching shown at the trial
Djamel Bensmail had volunteered in the village of Larbaa Nath Irathen, in the prefecture of Tizi Ouzou, in Kabylie (north-east) to help put out the fires which killed at least 90 people in less than a week in August 2021. After hearing that he was suspected of setting fire to the forest, he surrendered to the police.
Images relayed by social networks had shown the crowd surrounding the police van and dragging the man out of the vehicle after hitting him. Djamel Bensmaïl, 38, was then beaten and then immolated while young people took selfies in front of the corpse.
Excerpts from videos posted by the defendants on social media, showing details of the crime, were shown during the trial which opened on Tuesday. These videos show the lynching of Djamel Bensmaïl, burned alive and stripped of his personal items, including his cell phone.