ALGIERS: Algerian authorities have launched a counterterrorism investigation after a man had set himself on fire, an act investigators suspect was part of coordinated plot with links abroad, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Faouzi Zegout was injured as a result of the self-immolation on June 1 outside the justice ministry to protest a case he was involved in.
A video of the incident in the capital Algiers circulated on social media, showing Zegout saying he had done it 鈥渂ecause of a judge... who arbitrarily threatened me with a 10-year prison sentence.鈥�
At an Algiers court on Tuesday, a prosecutor said that five people had been detained in the case, without specifying whether Zegout was one of them.
One of the five has been released under judicial supervision, and the case has been transferred to a counterterrorism division, the court heard.
According to the prosecutor, investigators had found that the act was orchestrated by an 鈥渙rganized criminal group鈥� with suspected ties abroad.
The prosecutor said the group had allegedly plotted the act and assigned roles, including filming and publishing the self-immolation online, to 鈥渄isturb public order and disrupt institutions.鈥�
The charges include 鈥渆ndangering the lives and physical safety of others鈥� and 鈥減ublishing and promoting false and malicious news.鈥�
The person who filmed the incident had 鈥渃ommunicated with people abroad,鈥� had 鈥渕ultiple bank accounts鈥� and 鈥渞eceived money transfers from people,鈥� the prosecutor said, without specifying when the alleged transfers had occurred or who made them.
Zegout has said that he recently appeared in court for launching a fundraiser without official authorization to help cover medical costs for sick people.
A court in Frenda, his hometown about 340 kilometers (200 miles) west of Algiers, was scheduled to deliver its decision the same day he set himself on fire.