The Casablanca Appeal Court in the Algerian capital, Algiers, kicked off on Sunday the trial of more than 100 defendants, including 49 sentenced to death last year over the brutal killing of Djamel Bensmail, who they falsely accused of starting forest fires in the Kabylie region in the summer of 2021.
In a move signaling the gravity of the case, security forces deployed heavily in the court area and enforced strict security measures.
The case had received great media attention since the circulation of photos on July 11, 2021, showing 38-year-old Bensmail in the Tizi Ouzou region while he was beaten to death and set on fire by angry residents, who falsely accused him of starting fires himself in the region.
The list of accusations includes charges of premeditated murder, arson, torture and subversive terrorist acts targeting the security of the homeland, property and people and undermining national unity.
The police department investigating the case had issued an international arrest warrant against the separatist leader of the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK), Ferhat Mehenni, who resides in France as a political refugee.
The defendants were accused of receiving orders from MAK for the killing of Bensmail.
In the video, the victim was seen begging the defendants not to burn him, assuring them that he came from the city of Miliana in western Algeria to help put out the fire that had been going on for days.
The victim was an artist from Miliana.
Last year, a court had sentenced 49 people to death over his killing.
Out of 102 defendants, 17 were acquitted, while the rest received prison sentences ranging from 5-10 years.
The initial trial of the defendants lasted several days. Lawyers expect the retrial to last longer.
