A large demonstration was planned for Monday evening outside the Justice Ministry in Paris, France - but Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie headed it off by announcing that the protestors' demands would be met, at least partially.
Several Jewish groups wished to protest what is seen as light sentences for those involved in a brutal anti-Semitic murder in 2006. The organizers, leading Jewish groups in France, demand a retrial, this time in public. Minister Alliot-Marie said the State would appeal the sentences.
Some 27 members of a gang called the Barbarians were sentenced to terms of varying lengths in prison for their role in the 24-day incarceration, torture, setting on fire and slow murder of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi. The victim died the day he was found, unclothed and tied to a tree, on his way to the hospital.
The sentences were handed down on Friday night, with the court proclaiming that the crime was "anti-Semitic." Gang leader Youssouf Fofana, who the European Jewish Press reported raised his fist in court at the start of the trial and proclaimed "Allah will conquer!," was sentenced to life in prison without parole for at least 22 years. This is the maximum sentence permitted under French law.
Those who kept him captive and took part in his torture, however, received only 15-18 years, and 17-year-old "Emma," who lured Halimi into the trap, received only nine years. The prosecution had asked for 20 and 12 years, respectively.
Two gang members were acquitted, and others received sentences as low as six months in prison.
Jewish Groups Protest
Protests were quick to come. France's National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism demanded a retrial, calling the verdict “unbearable,” "lenient" and "incomplete." The Union of Jewish Students in France said it was "shocked," and the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish organizations expressed its “concern.” The groups also opposed the media blackout of the trial – which was emplaced because some of the defendants were minors – saying it prevented public debate and educational lessons.
CRIF lamented the closing of the trial to journalists, saying this "withdrew the exemplary and educational value that [the trial] should have had.”
A Justice Ministry decision on whether to appeal the sentences came much earlier than expected; it had been expected only by next week.