Ilan Halimi thought he was going out on a date.
Ilan was lured to his death by a woman he had met in his telephone store. They met up late on the night of January 20, 2006, in one of Paris’s southern suburbs, Bagneux. She was what is called a “honey pot.” She lured Ilan from his home and into the hands of a group of local radical Islamists called “The Barbarians.” They targeted him because he was a Jew. The Barbarians had connections with Hamas. They kept him naked and tied up for weeks. They tortured him and invited their friends and family over to torture him. They cut him and burned him with cigarettes and in the end stabbed him in the neck, poured flammable liquid on him, set him on fire, and pushed him from a train.
Ilan Halimi died that day.
The Barbarians, in order to convince Halimi’s parents their son had been kidnapped, borrowed a trick from Islamist kidnappers who abduct Westerners in the Middle East: They sent a picture of the young man being threatened by a gun and holding a newspaper to prove the date and time.
In May 2009, two years after his murder, Choc Magazine published a new photo of Ilan.
John Rosenthal described the cover: The magazine shows a man whose head has been wrapped in duct tape. His face is completely covered except for a small space that has been left for his nose. The nose is bloodied. The man’s hands are bound in front of him, likewise with tape. A key chain has been hung on his fingers: perhaps to help identify him or perhaps as a subtle threat to his family or friends. The man is seated in front of an orange and purple drape, evidently to hide his surroundings. A copy of the Parisian daily Le Parisien has been propped up on his arms in front of his chest, thus indicating the date. Emerging from off frame, a gloved-hand holds a gun pressed against the man’s temple.
Today a French court upheld the convictions of 16 people for their roles in the kidnapping, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
A French appeals court on Friday upheld the convictions of 16 people for their roles in the 2006 kidnapping, torture and murder of a young French Jew, handing down sentences of up to 18 years in prison.
The appeals court in Creteil near Paris heard appeals of defendants already convicted by a lower court into the slaying of Ilan Halimi, who was lured by a young woman and then abducted and killed.
The ringleader, Youssouf Fofana, was not on trial in the proceedings that began Oct. 25. He chose not to appeal his conviction and life sentence.
Two of his close associates, Jean-Christophe Soumbou and Samir Ait Abdel Malek, were sentenced to 18 years behind bars in the verdict Friday. A state prosecutor had sought 20 years for each. Malek had previously been sentenced to 15 years; Soumbous’ penalty was unchanged.
The appeals proceedings took place behind closed doors because two of the defendants were minors at the time. Minors are not publicly identified when tried in court under French law.
A nine-year sentence was upheld against the young woman who had taken part in luring Halimi into the gang’s custody. She was one of the two minors when the crimes occurred.
Six people who took part in kidnapping Halimi received sentences of 12 to 15 years. Seven others received sentences ranging from eight months to 11 years in prison, which was given to one woman who recruited others to act as bait for kidnappings. An apartment building guard who made available the room where Halimi was held got 10 years.
They can’t hold these animals long enough.
