Predictably, this story does not call attention to the role of Islamic antisemitism in Fofana’s acts. The words “Islam” and “Muslim” are not mentioned despite Fofana’s own words quoted below, and the fact that the torturers chanted Qur’anic verses, and Fofana shouted “Allahu akbar!” in court. “Gang leader gets life in anti-Semitic murder case,” from France24, July 10:
Youssouf Fofana, leader of a kidnap gang who called themselves “The Barbarians”, has been sentenced to life in prison for an anti-Semitic murder of shocking brutality.
Eligible for parole after 22 years:
The court ruled he must serve a minimum of 22 yerars [sic] before he can be considered for parole.
Fofana, 28, kidnapped, tortured and killed Jewish shop clerk Ilan Halimi in 2006.
Halimi went missing on January 20, 2006 while on a date with a girl he had met at his workplace.
The girl, it is alleged, was one of Fofana’s accomplices, instructed to lure Halimi to the basement of a building in a Paris suburb where he was attacked and subdued with ether.
Halimi was tortured for 24 days. Fofana is accused of stabbing Halimi and dousing his body with alcohol before setting him alight.
His naked and badly burned body was dumped, handcuffed to a tree near a railway track. Halimi died on his way to hospital.
Prosecutors have called for a life sentence for Fofana, 20-year sentences for his two close associates and a 12-year sentence for a young woman who allegedly lured Halimi to his death.
A further 26 alleged accomplices face sentences of between five and 13 years.
Hate crime
The killing of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi stirred debate on anti-Semitism in France because police initially refused to consider the kidnapping as a hate crime bcause the gang was trying to extort a ransom from Halimi’s family.
However, the brutal nature of the torture and subsequent murder prompted prosecutors to demand a life sentence becuase of the murder’s anti-Semitic nature.
Fofana, the son of Ivorian immigrants, raised his fist as he turned up in court at the start of the trial and proclaimed “Allah will conquer!”
Asked to state his name, he answered “African Barbarian Armed Revolt Salafist.”
From the beginning of the two-month trial, Fofana made repeated anti-Semitic declarations, has thrown his shoes at court staff and sacked all his lawyers.
Towards the end of his trial, Fofana told the court: “I would rather live like a lion for a day than as a sheep for one hundred.”…