Opponents in Paris and other French cities have challenged the French Supreme Court’s ruling that the killer of a Jewish woman, Sarah Halimi, was innocent and would not be prosecuted.
Thousands of people packed Trocadero Plaza in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, on Sunday in response to calls from Jewish organizations and anti-Semitism groups claiming that justice had not been done. Other demonstrations took place in Marseille, Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and elsewhere.
The proclamation that the murderer would not be brought to justice provoked the anger of Jews and Jews around the world.
Halimi, a 65-year-old Jewish woman, died in 2017 after being pushed against the window of her home in Paris by her neighbor, Kobili Traoré, who reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic). Traoré admitted he was being pushed.
The Supreme Court Cassation ruling, handed down this month, said there was enough evidence to prove that the practice had anti-Semitic motives.
But the court ruled that the perpetrator was “in prison” and could not be prosecuted again – even if the government were convicted of drug trafficking. Traoré smoked a large amount of tobacco.
“According to the consensus of various psychiatrists, the man was exhibiting at a time when it was very difficult,” the court said.
Paris High Court commemorating Sarah Halimi & challenging a high court ruling that her killer was not a criminal. #JusticeForSarah
pic.twitter.com/OitCtOBRZp– European Jewish Congress (@eurojewcong) April 25, 2021
Under French law, individuals cannot be held liable for the loss of their knowledge or self-control as a result of mental illness. Traoré has been in a psychiatric hospital since Halimi’s death.
Robert Ejnes, head of CRIF, a Jewish umbrella group in France, said he had come to Trocadero Plaza to help Halimi’s brothers.
“I think they’re like the people of France – they’re angry and they don’t understand at all,” he said.
“There are also people who believe in the French government, the French justice system, and who are experiencing injustice. A fellow murderer is known to be a murderer, known to be an anti-Semitic but will not be tried. It is illegal and it is difficult for people to grieve, ”he said.
Leading Republic of Macron MP for the Move Party, Christophe Castaner, was also present at the rally on Sunday, along with former Carla Bruni’s wife, Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who said the city would soon call for a street in Halimi Memorial. .
“It will also be a way to do his justice,” Hidalgo said.
“The noise has ceased and hope has returned. This hope is for all of you here, ”Halimi’s brother William Attal told a group gathered at the Trocadero escranade.
‘Dangerous’
In Israel, hundreds of people gathered outside the French embassy in Tel Aviv, waving French and Israeli flags and placards reading “Shame on France”.
Israeli lawmakers from various political parties have taken part, with Diaspora Prime Minister Omer Yankelevitch calling the court’s decision “absurd, shameful and dangerous”.
“From Tel Aviv to Paris, the Jewish people, in Israel and around the world, are closely associated with the Halimi family and the Jewish community in France,” he said.
Jewish groups say the court’s decision has made the Jews less secure in France, while lawyers representing Halimi’s family will take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.
French Germans have been in constant contact in recent years, especially in 2012, when a gunman opened fire on three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in the southern city of Toulouse.
In 2015, a man known for his sympathy for ISIL (ISIS) shot four people at a supermarket in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron, too, wants a change in French law.
“Choosing to take drugs and then ‘going crazy’ should not be the end of your case,” Macron told Le Figaro newspaper.
He also said that he was supporting the victim’s family.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti sent a statement on Sunday stating that he would file a petition in May to enforce the French law on the consequences of drug abuse.
