A French court has sentenced 55-year-old Rachid Kheniche to 18 years in prison for the 2022 killing of his 89-year-old Jewish neighbor, René Hadjadj, in Lyon.
According to the court, Kheniche invited Hadjadj to his 17th-floor apartment, where he attempted to strangle him before throwing him from the balcony, causing his death.
Prosecutors had sought a murder conviction with an antisemitic motive, which would have carried a life sentence. However, the court declined to recognize antisemitism as a factor in the crime.
The judge acknowledged that Kheniche had previously shared antisemitic content on social media but ruled that prosecutors failed to prove a direct link between those posts and the killing. The court found no conclusive evidence that the attack was carried out because of the victim’s Jewish identity.
During the trial, Kheniche denied being antisemitic and said he had maintained a close relationship with Hadjadj. He also claimed he experienced a psychotic episode on the day of the incident. Although evidence showed he had posted numerous messages promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, the court determined that this alone did not establish a clear antisemitic motive for the crime.
A lawyer for the victim’s family said the verdict reflects France’s broader handling of antisemitism cases. Representatives of the Jewish community voiced disappointment that the court did not recognize an antisemitic dimension, describing the killing of the elderly man as a particularly grave and brutal act.