A 43-year-old man sustained some serious injuries after he deliberately set himself ablaze in Germany on Wednesday. The man is said to have carried out the act so as to protest the detention of a militant, Abdullah Ocalan, in Turkey.
Explaining the incident, a police report stated, “The 43-year-old doused himself with a liquid and then set himself on fire, outside the courthouse in the western city of Krefeld.
“According to witnesses, he said he was protesting against the detention of Ocalan and against German police violence.”
Luckily passersby were quick to put out the flames by using blankets and a fire extinguisher. Afterward, a rescue helicopter quickly rushed him to the hospital.
The police statement equally stated that some investigations will be carried out to ascertain whether the incident was a personal motive, or probably as a result of mental health problems.
Ocalan has been held by Turkish secret service since February 15, 1999, making it 20 years in captivity for the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Ocalan was arrested based on the premise that his organization was a terrorist group, although it was originally created in order to fight for Kurdish autonomy.
Reports claimed that the organization became an armed group which led to insurgencies, claiming over 40,000 lives in the process.
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