|
{"source_url": "https://www.timesofisrael.com", "url": "https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-france-successful-insanity-defense-by-killer-of-jewish-woman-sparks-outrage/", "title": "In France, successful insanity defense by killer of Jewish woman sparks outrage", "top_image": "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/07/S-Halimi-1024x640.jpg", "meta_img": "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/07/S-Halimi-1024x640.jpg", "images": ["https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Untitled-7-5-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Salamon-1530951792-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Fauda-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/toi-profile-photo1575978766-200x200.jpeg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/ToI1912b-decade-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Ilana-Fodiman-Silverman-1530952786-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Jew-lie-e1577815882520-200x200.png", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/AP_19365831219480-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Dreidel-Guinness-2019-resize-2160x1200-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/000_1NA5DW-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/moshe-mordechai-van-zuiden11552384025-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/11/000_1MF6U7-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Justin-Amler-1530952515-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/HyJ8GM11yI_0_6_677_490_xx-large-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Capture-10-e1577821408426-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/olitzky1549957522-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/10/AP_19267503779649-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/02/AP_18334841378992-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19321052834580-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/ascsacsavsavsav-e1576959023643-400x250.png", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/terms-images/writers/Avi-Issacharoff-medium.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP19353060870276-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Haviv-podcast-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP19340780163417-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/11/AP_19322221152276-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/F191229TN30-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2013/01/Protest-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Untitled-21-2-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Michael-Chernick-1530952838-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/F191229TN39-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Beebs-e1577015984765-400x250.png", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/aharon-gottlieb1566192379-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Untitled-12-3-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/08/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-07-at-10.56.58-AM-200x200.jpeg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/07/S-Halimi-1024x640.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP19348549377996-e1576742150973-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/AP19365712865432-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/000_1ND87P-e1577818116663-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/F191229TN31-e1577650523429-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/000_1NC8HC-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/WhatsApp-Image-2019-12-25-at-20.32.40-400x250.jpeg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/freilich-e1577860287321-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/antitesi-ph-Nadir-Bonazzi-5-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19342077581739-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19363282289252-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/TRIKALA_SYNAGOGUE_DEC_31_2019-e1577809722224-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/Schumer-NPSG-funding-photo-resize-2160x1199-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Untitled-21-3-400x250.png", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19358560937905-e1577627682568-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/ronen-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/sadsacsacvsavsav-e1576945695424-400x250.png", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/F191029HP67-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/02/AP19050595265434-e1550658358503-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2016/06/AP294621856170-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Capture-7-e1577813224713-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/05/F190513NRF09-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/190424-A-HP857-854C-e1577803913268-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/sivanrahavmeir-1530953416-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/000_1ND6XX-e1577809076187-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/rabbi-david-wolpe-1530952364-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Begin-replacing-Rabin-1977-From-the-Dan-Hadani-Archive-The-Pritzker-Family-National-Photography-Collection-National-Library-of-Israel-Credit-IPPA-Staff004011763-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/000_1KY96M-e1577078939390-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Untitled-29-e1577794068480-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Abba-in-Uniform-June-2009-1530952931-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19325488270134-e1576462935162-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/000_1NE01B-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/dead-jews-2019-e1577643443902-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/10/AP19283797496941-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/06/AP_19178061853179-e1563860387737-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/images/toi_logo_white.svg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/police-officers-do-nazi-salute-e1577804695761-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/000_1ND8GN-e1577827500705-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/2020-JTA-Election-Main-Header-e1576834196351-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/F191229TN30-160x100.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Josh-Shron1-1530952508-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/000_1NC967-e1577859852711-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/F191201YS0005-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/11/DSCF7134-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/aryeh-spero1576456111-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2018/05/greenblatt2-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/08/Untitled-16-3-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Capture-8-e1577818180873-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/ToI1912b-decade-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/F191117SK37-e1577798721434-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/12-18-19-Arayes-e1577035118796-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/05/AP_19140839764197-e1558662106909-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Untitled-5-7-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/08/04-02-2019-Bernie-Sanders-2160x1200-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/07/S-Halimi-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19345826771895-e1576186962322-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2018/02/AP_18038812936722-e1518066211152-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/12/latkes-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/\u05de\u05d5\u05e4\u05e2-\u05e1\u05d9\u05d5\u05dd-photo-by-Nir-Shaanani-\u05d0\u05d1\u05d8\u05d4-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05df-2-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19353074179001-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/shuki_friedman2221540466903-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Miriam-Herschlag3-1530951953-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP_19353577342749-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/meir-e1577122983674-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Menorah-Manus-Brazil-McDonalds-2019-resize-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Himmelfarb-e1577816706895-200x200.png", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/american-jews-header-e1577791706582-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/shlomo-deutsch1560658581-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/10/AP_19289148744847-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP19354067012076-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/AP_19365186392191-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/AP19353823534433-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/James-R-Russell-1530953795-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/D34-058-e1577804105971-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/F191229TN30-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/F191114ASFF09-e1577823030100-640x400.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/F191231YS30-1-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Shulamit-S-Magnus-1530952785-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/Yael-Shahar-1530952124-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/10/view-from-the-safed-citadel-1217-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/12/Jan_de_Bray-Judith_and_Holofernes-e1577613026251-400x250.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/joshuazrokach1561639181-200x200.jpg", "https://static.timesofisrael.com/blogs/uploads/users/shanashockettlowell1577612774-200x200.jpg"], "movies": [], "text": "JTA \u2014 An appeals court ruling that a man who killed a Jewish woman in her home while shouting Quranic verses is unfit to stand trial is prompting outraged reactions from French Jews who fear it sets a dangerous precedent that will undermine the fight against anti-Semitism.\n\nKobili Troare admitted to killing 67-year-old Sarah Halimi in 2017 in a long and gruesome beating in which neighbors heard him quoting from the Quran and calling his victim a \u201cdemon.\u201d But despite Troare having no history of mental illness, the Paris Appeals Court earlier this month upheld a lower court ruling that Traore is unfit to stand trial because he had a \u201cdelirious episode\u201d brought on by his consumption of marijuana. The judge in the case also determined that Troare was anti-Semitic.\n\nIt \u201cleft me speechless,\u201d Francis Kalifat, the president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, wrote last week in an emotional open letter to the head of the court.\n\nGet The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up\n\n\u201cDoes the court wish to set a new jurisprudence in our country, making cannabis, which is normally an aggravating factor, a mitigating one for an anti-Semitic murder?\u201d Kalifat asked.\n\nTraore is not the first killer of Jews to avoid standing trial in France. In 2003, Abel Amastaibou told his mother that he was \u201cgoing to heaven\u201d for killing a Jew after stabbing Sebastian Selam to death. Amastaibou, a Muslim, was found unfit to stand trial despite having no prior history of mental illness.\n\nIn 2015, another Muslim with no prior history of mental illness, Farid Haddouche, was deemed unfit to stand trial for stabbing Jews in Marseille \u2014 though further inquiries, conducted amid an outcry, ultimately led to his sentencing to four years in jail.\n\nIn his letter, Kalifat wondered whether the court ruling was driven by a desire to avoid addressing the role of Muslim anti-Semitism in the targeting of Jews in France while adding he couldn\u2019t bring himself to believe this was the case. Gilles-William Goldnadel, a former member of the CRIF executive board and a lawyer representing the Halimi family, had no such qualms.\n\nThe ruling on Traore \u201cwas an ideological decision born of a great reluctance to condemn those deemed as society\u2019s victims,\u201d he told reporters.\n\nThe case \u201cdestroyed my confidence that anti-Semitic hate crimes in France are handled properly,\u201d Sammy Ghozlan, a former French police commissioner who now heads the BNVCA anti-Semitism watchdog, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. \u201cThere have been a series of massive failures unlike any I\u2019d seen.\u201d\n\nGhozlan\u2019s investigation led to the discovery that several police officers had stood outside the door of Halimi\u2019s apartment while she was being pummeled by Traore. Neighbors had called the police upon hearing the commotion, but the officers stayed outside due to what a police spokesperson later said was concern about \u201cterrorist activity.\u201d\n\n\u201cI personally believe the decision to not prosecute Traore is to avoid scrutiny of how police performed that night,\u201d Ghozlan said. \u201cIt\u2019s the only explanation I can think of to a chain of events that is otherwise inexplicable, at least to me.\u201d\n\nThe decision not to prosecute Traore was based on three rounds of psychiatric examinations that determined he was not responsible for his actions because the cannabis had induced a \u201cdelirious episode,\u201d which the appeals court stated did not subtract from the fact that his actions were the result of anti-Semitic bias. Some of the psychiatric evaluations were ordered by the judge evaluating the case and not at the request of Traore\u2019s lawyer.\n\nProsecutors disputed the claim that Traore was not in charge of his faculties when he killed Halimi. But even if he were, the prosecution argued in June, by \u201cvoluntarily consuming\u201d marijuana, Traore \u201cdirectly contributed\u201d to his delirium and is therefore criminally liable for his actions.\n\nHalimi\u2019s killing on April 3, 2017, came just three weeks before the first round of a presidential election in which Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party and a fierce critic of Islam, took one-third of the vote. Many French Jews believe the media swept the case under the carpet in order not to give fodder to Le Pen\u2019s campaign.\n\nThe killing was reported at length in the mainstream French media only two months later, largely thanks to an open letter by 17 of France\u2019s foremost intellectuals.\n\n\u201cEverything about this crime suggests there is an ongoing denial of reality,\u201d they wrote.\n\nOnly in September 2017 did prosecutors for the first time say that Traore\u2019s actions were the result of anti-Semitic hatred, a claim the judges who deemed him unfit to stand trial accepted in their reasoning.\n\nThe case has brought back \u201cbad memories,\u201d according to Shmuel Trigano, a French Jewish author and researcher well-known for chronicling how the French authorities ignored a wave of violent anti-Semitism in France in the early 2000s sparked by the outbreak of the Second Intifada in Israel. Daniel Vaillant, then France\u2019s interior minister, later acknowledged that the incidents were squelched in order to \u201cnot pour oil on the fire.\u201d\n\nBut French authorities have since grown less reticent as the death toll from Islamic militants has grown. In October, President Emmanuel Macron urged the country to be \u201cvigilant\u201d against the threat of Islamism following the slaying of four people by a Muslim convert at the Paris police headquarters.\n\nStill, some critics see French authorities as reluctant to call out the Muslim role in violence against French Jews. According to BNVCA, most physical assaults on Jews in France are perpetrated by people from families that immigrated to France from Muslim-majority countries.\n\nIn its annual report for 2016, the French government\u2019s human rights body, French National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, wrote that a \u201csignificant part of the anti-Semitic acts (actions and threats) pertains to neo-Nazi ideology, whereas in most other cases the perpetrators\u2019 motivations are difficult to ascertain.\u201d\n\nThe report did not mention attacks by Muslims.\n\nThe report also questioned the existence of a new anti-Semitism tied to animosity toward Israel, saying that if such an anti-Semitism exists, \u201cthen it pertains to a minority\u201d of cases.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": ["anti-Semitism in France", "See All", "Full Coverage Times of Israel podcasts", "French Muslims", "Full Coverage Israel media review", "Full Coverage 2020 US presidential elections", "Full Coverage 2019-2020 Israeli elections", "Sarah Halimi"], "authors": [], "publish_date": null, "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "Kobili Troare viciously beat Sarah Halimi, 67, to death while chanting from Quran, but does not face trial after court finds he suffered marijuana-induced 'delirious episode'", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2018/11/toi_icon_512-200x200.png", "meta_data": {"viewport": "width=1024", "description": "Kobili Troare viciously beat Sarah Halimi, 67, to death while chanting from Quran, but does not face trial after court finds he suffered marijuana-induced 'delirious episode'", "msapplication-TileImage": "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/images/toi_icon_144.png", "msapplication-TileColor": "#ffffff", "theme-color": "#ffffff", "fb": {"app_id": 123142304440875}, "og": {"url": "https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-france-successful-insanity-defense-by-killer-of-jewish-woman-sparks-outrage/", "type": "article", "title": "In France, successful insanity defense by killer of Jewish woman sparks outrage", "description": "Kobili Troare viciously beat Sarah Halimi, 67, to death while chanting from Quran, but does not face trial after court finds he suffered marijuana-induced 'delirious episode'", "image": {"identifier": "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/07/S-Halimi-1024x640.jpg", "width": 1024, "height": 640}}, "twitter": {"card": "summary_large_image", "site": "timesofisrael", "title": "In France, successful insanity defense by killer of Jewish woman sparks outrage", "description": "Kobili Troare viciously beat Sarah Halimi, 67, to death while chanting from Quran, but does not face trial after court finds he suffered marijuana-induced 'delirious episode'", "image": "https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2017/07/S-Halimi-1024x640.jpg"}}, "canonical_link": "https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-france-successful-insanity-defense-by-killer-of-jewish-woman-sparks-outrage/"} |
