French Jews demand justice after court refused to prosecute Islamic killer because he was high on drugs at the time of the murder.
By Paul Shindman, World Israel News
Major protests are scheduled across France Sunday as the family of murdered French Jew Sarah Halimi is trying to get her killer put on trial in Israel after he escaped prosecution in France.
Halimi, 65, was murdered in Paris in 2017 when her neighbor Kobili Traoré, an Islamic fanatic, attacked and killed her, but was found not criminally responsible because the court ruled he was under the influence of marijuana, which he smoked before committing the crime.
The Facebook group Agissons Pour Sarah Halimi (Take Action For Sarah Halimi) called on all French citizens to come out and protest in cities across the country, with the main demonstration to take place in the capital.
“We believe this case sets a dangerous precedent for the whole of society: Killing in the name of an ideology should not be considered madness … willing drug use should never prevent a murderer from escaping justice,” the group posted, calling for a re-trial “and a change in the law, so that this kind of scandal can never be repeated.”
In Israel, protests are being organized in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Eilat with the focus on a demonstration outside the French embassy in Tel Aviv Sunday afternoon.
Israeli protest organizer, lawyer Johann Habib, posted on his Facebook page that he “never imagined for a moment that there would be such an impetus of fraternity, solidarity and compassion in Israel towards the family of Dr. Sarah Halimi.”
Lawyers for Halimi’s sister, Esther Lekover – an Israeli citizen, said they are filing papers to have Traoré charged in Israel.
“In Israel, when a Jew is killed and the motive is anti-Semitic, the country’s justice system is competent,” lawyer Francis Szpiner told the French news website Marianne. “It is therefore not simply based on the religious confession of the victim but also on the anti-Semitic nature of the crime.”
“Israeli law also recognizes criminal irresponsibility, but it provides for Traore’s case,” Szpiner said, pointing out that Traoré voluntarily consumed the cannabis before murdering Halimi.
Szpiner admitted that France does not extradite its nationals to foreign countries to face justice but that a trial in Israel would be more than symbolic because the case affected all people in France, not just its Jewish citizens.