The defendant was brought to court for threatening a health clinic employee, telling her to "call security – I'll show you what's what!" It is unclear why he decided to set himself on fire.
By ALON EINHORNPolice officers walk out of the courtroom where a man set himself on fire(photo credit: YASSER OKBI)
A 70-year-old man set himself on fire in a courtroom of the Beersheba Magistrate Court on Sunday. Despite heavy security at the courthouse, the man was able to enter with flammable materials. He was transferred to Soroka University Medical Center in critical condition.The defendant was brought to court for threatening a health clinic employee, telling her to “call security, I’ll show you what’s what!” It is unclear why he decided to set himself on fire.“I heard yelling and saw a woman running to one direction while the rest were running the opposite [way],” said Ahmed Abu Alan, who was sitting outside the courtroom. “I ran in and saw a man on fire thrashing around, I took the jacket off the man and jumped to attempt to put the fire out, until someone came over with a fire extinguisher.”“All the security guards but one ran out of the courtroom,” Maher Abu Eish said. “I wish to apologize to the attorney whose robe I grabbed to put out the fire. I asked her if I could take it, she did not resist.”Attorney Lior Cohen ran to the judges’ chamber and grabbed a fire extinguisher from there, which was used to put out the fire. Judge Tzvi Forer thanked him for his “resourcefulness, doing anything he can to help the defendant.”According to eyewitnesses, the defendant stepped into the courtroom, was presented to the French translator by the typist, said some things in French, pulled out a bottle of flammable liquid, poured it on himself and set himself on fire.
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