Events are accelerating in the case of the murder of Algerian youth Jamal Ben Samahiel, whose body was burned and mutilated under suspicion of starting fires in the Tizi Ouzou region. In the latest developments, public television broadcast testimonies from several detainees in the case, one of whom confessed to stabbing the victim.
Some detainees admitted their affiliation with the "MAK" movement, which Algeria considers a terrorist organization, with another confessing to setting the victim's body on fire. The arrest of 25 suspects related to the murder of Jamal Ben Samahiel revealed new shocking facts about the involvement of the terrorist organization MAK in the crime, according to a statement from the General Directorate of National Security.
## Stabbing and Last Words
Local media reported the confessions of the detainees, where one admitted to inflicting two dagger stabs on the victim after being handed a dagger by one of the accomplices to carry out the crime. R. Aghilas, the main suspect in Jamal Ben Samahiel's murder case, stated that he boarded the police vehicle after a young man gave him a dagger and asked him to kill Jamal. He recounted to investigators: "The young man, who had tattoos on his body, gave me the dagger and asked me to kill him." The suspect admitted to stabbing Jamal twice with the dagger, clarifying that the last words he heard from the victim before his death were, "By God, I am not the one, my brother."
## Setting the Fire
The testimonies of the accused presented by the General Directorate of National Security to the public through national channels included the confession of the suspect "A. Ahmed." The suspect admitted in his statements to participating in the burning of the victim, saying, "I did not burn him, but I threw the cardboard to increase the flames... The ones who burned him are the 'Tiyarti' and 'Ramadan Al-Abyad'."
Additionally, the suspect "S. Hassan" described how he became involved with the terrorist MAK movement. The suspect, originally from Jijel and living in the Chéraga area of the capital, revealed that his connection with the MAK organization occurred during the protest marches, and that he communicated with them through Facebook. He confirmed that the strategic location he resides in, which is near the National Gendarmerie headquarters in the capital, led the MAK terrorist group to accept his enlistment, noting that the separatist leader Farhat Mehnni was nicknamed "Moul Barnous" (the one with the cloak) among the group's members.
## New Details
The General Directorate of National Security revealed the dismantling of a criminal network responsible for the murder of Jamal Ben Samahiel, classified as a terrorist organization based on the confessions of its detained members. The directorate stated on Tuesday in a statement that its specialized services, using modern techniques, were able to retrieve the victim's mobile phone and arrest 25 new suspects.
The statement mentioned that the investigation uncovered a specialized criminal network behind the heinous plot, classified as a terrorist organization based on the confessions of its detained members. It revealed that through the investigation of the victim's mobile phone, astonishing truths about the real reasons for the murder of Jamal Ben Samahiel were discovered, which will be disclosed by justice later, given the confidentiality of the investigation.
The statement also indicated that security services swiftly arrested an additional 25 remaining suspects who were in hiding across several states in the country, including two individuals apprehended by the Oran Security Directorate who were preparing to leave the country. The total number of suspects arrested for committing this heinous crime reached 61, with varying degrees of responsibility in the murder, burning, mutilation of the body, property destruction, and violation of the sanctity of a security facility.
The incident of the young man's murder, accused of igniting fires in the forests of the Tizi Ouzou region and having his body set on fire by angry citizens, caused shock and outrage across the country, especially after it was revealed that he was innocent and had been on-site to offer assistance. Last Wednesday, circulating photos and videos on social media showed a large number of citizens burning a person they suspected of having set fires in the forests, and the hashtag "Justice for Jamal Ben Samahiel" spread widely across Algerian Facebook pages and many social media platforms.
