European Jews were “shocked and outraged” this weekend when the Paris Court of Appeals decided that the raving Muslim neighbor who murdered Jewish physician Sarah Halimi was not criminally responsible for his actions.
Kobil Traoré attacked Halimi, 60, at her home in Paris on April 4th 2017 while shouting “Allahu Akbar” and reciting Koranic verses while beating her for an hour before throwing her off her balcony to her death.
The court followed the opinions of two psychiatric examiners who claimed Traoré was too intoxicated from smoking cannabis to be held responsible.
The murderer is to be hospitalized for treatment of his psychotic lapses or made to attend a drug rehabilitation program, according to the AFP news agency.
“This scandalous decision opens the door to large-scale impunity”, Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress said. “The court has sent a message to criminals that they will be able to walk free from the most heinous crimes by taking illegal substances.”
Francis Kalifat, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) declared, “Is an antisemitic crime the only crime that is excused by the judiciary because of massive drug-taking, whereas in all other crimes the judiciary would consider that to be an aggravating circumstance?”
“We stand in solidarity with the family of Sarah Halimi, which has been denied justice by this incomprehensible decision” Kantor said.