Protests were held around the world on Sunday over the court decision in France to allow a man who murdered French Jewish woman Sarah Halimi to avoid trial on the grounds he acted in a drug-induced delirium.
Jewish groups have reacted with outrage to the recent decision by France's highest court to uphold a 2019 ruling that Kobili Traore was not criminally responsible for the murder of the 65-year-old retired physician and teacher.
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A man holds a placard reading 'Jewish Lives Matter' at a Paris protest Sunday over the decision not to try the killer of Sarah Halimi
(Photo: AFP)
Thousands of people filled the Trocadero Plaza in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, answering a call by Jewish associations, organizations fighting anti-Semitism and other groups who say justice has not been done.
Other cities in France were also holding simultaneous protests, along with demonstrations in London, Rome, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv.
Halimi's brother and son, who both live in Israel, flew to Paris to attend the demonstration there, local media reported.
Halimi was killed in 2017 after being pushed out of the window of her third-story Paris apartment by her 27-year-old neighbor as he shouted "Allahu Akhbar" ("God is most great" in Arabic).
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Israelis protest in Tel Aviv over the decision not to try the killer of Sarah Halimi
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
Traore, a heavy cannabis user, was placed in psychiatric care after Halimi's death and remains there after the ruling. He admitted pushing Halimi our of the window.
The court said he committed the killing after succumbing to a "delirious fit" and was thus not responsible for his actions.'
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Thousands attend a Paris protest Sunday over the decision not to try the killer of Sarah Halimi
French President Emmanuel Macron urged a change in the country's law in the wake of the ruling, telling Le Figaro last Monday: "Deciding to take narcotics and then 'going mad' should, not in my view, remove your criminal responsibility."
The French president called on his justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti "to present a change in the law as soon as possible."
Dupond-Moretti tweeted Sunday that he will present a bill at the end of May to plug a legal vacuum in French law regarding the consequences of the voluntary use of drugs.
Halimi's murder stoked debate over a new strain of anti-Semitism among radicalized Muslim youths in predominantly immigrant neighborhoods.
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Thousands attend a Paris protest Sunday over the decision not to try the killer of a French Jewish woman
(Photo: AFP)
This is not the first time Macron has waded into the case after he criticized the lower court's insanity finding in January last year, drawing a sharp riposte from the country's top magistrates who invoked the separation of powers.
"It is not for me to comment on a court decision," Macron told Le Figaro.
"But I want to assure the family, relatives of the victim and all fellow citizens of Jewish faith who were awaiting this trial of my warm support and the determination of the Republic to protect them."
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French Jewish officials attend a tribute to Sarah Halimi in Paris on Sunday
(Photo: AFP)
Jewish groups said the court ruling had made Jews less safe in France, while lawyers representing Halimi's family said they intend to refer the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
French Jews have been repeatedly targeted by jihadists in recent years.
Notable attacks occurred in 2012 an Islamist gunman shot dead three children and a teacher at a Jewish school in the southern city of Toulouse and in 2015 when a pro-Islamic State radical gunned down four people at a Jewish supermarket in Paris.