Sarah Halimi was a 65-year-old Jewish woman in Paris who was savagely beaten and then thrown out the window of her third-floor apartment by a Muslim neighbor. His trial and sentence were a hideous farce, and now a French documentary maker’s film about the matter has just been shown on French television.. More on the film, the filmmaker, and the murderer who got off sickeningly easy, can be found here: “‘It’s Nauseating:’ Director of Documentary on Antisemitic Murder of French Jewish Woman Sarah Halimi Assails Judicial System,” by Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, July 6, 2023:
The director of a documentary broadcast on French television concerning the antisemitic murder in 2017 of Sarah Halimi — a 65-year-old Jewish woman who lived on her own in a public housing project in Paris — has slammed the police and judicial investigation into the killing as “absolutely scandalous, the opposite of what I expect from French justice.”
The director, François Margolin, was speaking to the leading news outlet Le Figaro following the broadcast of his film, “Sarah Halimi: An Antisemitic Crime Unpunished,” on France’s RMC network on Sunday night. The film sought to reconstruct the crime and the consequent botched investigation that led to the accused killer, Halimi’s neighbor Kobili Traore, avoiding a trial on the grounds that his intake of cannabis on Apr. 4, 2017 — the night he broke into Halimi’s apartment and beat her savagely while shouting antisemitic epithets before ejecting her body from a third floor window — had rendered him temporarily insane.
The flawed investigation into Halimi’s death culminated in the April 2021 announcement by France’s highest court that since Traore had taken what it termed an “acute delirious puff” on a cannabis joint that eliminated his “discernement” — or self-awareness — he could not “be judged criminally even when his mental state was caused by the regular consumption of drugs.”
In response, Crif, the French-Jewish representative organization, angrily countered that “now in our country, we can torture and kill Jews with impunity.”
Kobili Traore was not new to drugs; he had been taking them for years, and was long inured to their effects. A mere puff on marijuana would not have caused a sudden change in his behavior – he’d been a criminal for years, often committing his crimes while high on cannabis. But the French court chose to describe his murder of Halimi as the result of an “acute delirious puff,” instead of what it was – the expression of murderous Jew-hatred by a Muslim who, like so many Muslims, had since childhood been taught to hate Jews and to covet their supposed wealth.
In both his film and his subsequent interview, Margolin focused on the role of the investigating judge in the case, Anne Ihuellou, who announced the formal end to the investigation in May 2019. Margolin said he had managed to obtain “the very rare testimony of the investigating judge, who showed a total lack of empathy for the victim and explained that she had ‘too much work to carry out a reconstitution of the crime,’ or even simply to receive the family’s lawyers. It’s nauseating.”
“Too much work”? In a trial for murder? Oh dear.” Perhaps the juge d’instruction, Anne Iheullou, ought to find some less taxing work, if she is not up to the job. She appears to have been curiously indifferent to the task of doing justice. For example, although more than fifteen witnesses were willing to testify that Kobili Traore’s act was premeditated – he had apparently spoken of robbing and getting rid of the “Jew” – the judge refused to let any of them testify. She was dead set on getting him off on a charge of a sudden burst of “insanity” brought on by smoking cannabis, though he had been functioning perfectly well as a petty criminal for many years, all the while smoking the marijuana to which he was addicted.
He [the film-maker Margolin] charged that from “day one,” the judge had decided “that the murderer is not responsible” and that she had “conducted the investigation only to comfort herself in this opinion. This is absolutely scandalous and, in my opinion, the opposite of what I expect from French justice.” Ihuellou’s decision was partly based on assessments carried out by two psychiatrists, one of whom told Margolin in the documentary that he had revised his view that Traore could not be considered culpable. “It’s easy to understand, listening to them, that psychiatry is not an exact science,” Margolin said.
Did the change of opinion of one of the two psychiatrists, who now believed that Traore could not be considered to have been “insane” at the time he murdered Sarah Halimi, not call for the judge to reopen the case? Apparently, for Ihuellou, there was no need to consider this change of opinion by someone who had been a key witness for the defense.
Margolin also criticized the police, who arrived at Halimi’s apartment as Traore was beating her and yet refrained from intervening.
They stood outside the door ‘waiting for orders’ while the murderer shouted ‘Allahu Akhbar’ [sic] over and over again, and many neighbors watched the crime live from their balconies in the courtyard,” he pointed out. He added that police officers were offered an alternative entrance to Halimi’s apartment when her immediate neighbors — the Diarra family, relatives of Traore — offered them access from the balcony of their apartment, the same route taken by Traore himself.
Why did the police stand outside the apartment door, listening to the screams of Sarah Halimi as Kobili Traore beat her to death, and not making a move to save her? Why did they have to “wait for orders” to enter the apartment? It was perfectly clear that an atrocity was being committed; no orders from higher up were necessary to knock down the door and rescue Halimi.
“If the crime weren’t so atrocious, it would be almost laughable,” Margolin said.
Margolin’s documentary also highlighted Traore’s lifestyle, emphasizing that “everything was in place for him to be tried, and there was no need to rewrite the law to do so.” Prior to murdering Halimi, Traore had garnered more than 25 convictions for drug dealing, drug use and violence.
“No extenuating circumstances were ever found in these cases,” Margolin said. But in the case of Halimi, “all of a sudden, it’s explained that he’s had a ‘delirious flush,’ something that’s perfectly unprovable since it may never come back. And what’s even more astonishing – if I dare say it – is that the first psychiatric examinations took place more than four months after the crime. Without being paranoid, this gave the murderer time to prepare.”
How could the psychiatrists adequately judge Traore’s state of mind – his defense lawyer’s claim that he had experienced a “delirious flush” ”that caused him to kill Sarah Halimi – four months after it was said to have occurred? And during those four months, Traore had plenty of time to prepare, with his lawyer, his little story of that sudden “delirious flush” during which he beat and defenestrated Sarah Halimi.
Margolin argued that there was evidence that Traore had regarded the murder as an act of martyrdom.
“If he was crazy, why would he have come to his cousins and neighbors, the Diarras, on the morning of the crime, to drop off clean clothes in order to change?” he asked. “As someone who made a film about Salafists [Islamist militants] a few years ago, and who knows them well, I know that this is what is done by those who are preparing to become martyrs.” In addition, Traore had “frequented the Omar mosque, two hundred meters from his home, which is one of the most radical mosques in France,” Margolin noted. “He had been there a few hours before the murder.”
An incontrovertible proof of premeditation: he had prepared the white garb of a Muslim martyr, for he expected to die after killing “the Jew.” He had also spent time before the murder in a nearby mosque, preparing himself mentally for what he would soon achieve: the death of Sarah Halimi.
In the documentary, lawyer Gilles-William Goldnadel, one of the Halimi family’s representatives, warned that Traore could be discreetly released from the psychiatric hospital where he resides “at any time.” The decision rests with the doctors at the hospital, who are empowered to discharge Traore if they deem that he no longer poses a danger to others.
In other words, Traore may be released if he simply convinces the doctors at the psychiatric hospital that he will not be a danger to others. How difficult will it be for him to feign being “cured” of his “delusional fit”? Not difficult at all. And soon, he may again be walking the streets of Paris, smoking marijuana, engaging in the petty crime by which he had been supplementing his benefits from the state. He will walk scot-free, unpunished for his hideous crime, and justice will not have been done for Sarah Halimi.
“There’s really no reason for him to stay there, since what he’s got – ‘this delusional fit’ – can’t be treated,” Margolin said. He further claimed that Traore had already been “given regular leave and made videos with his friends on TikTok, which were immediately deleted.”…
How nice for the man who murdered his elderly neighbor because she was “a Jew” to be regularly let out of the hospital, to meet with his pals, and even to be given access to a computer to make videos on TikTok with his friends, videos which are “immediately deleted” – by whom? By Traore himself? By the hospital doctors? By his lawyer? Someone understood that it was important not to let the public know just how free and easy his life has become.
France has experienced a steady rise in antisemitism across two decades, with nearly twenty Jews murdered as a result.
Their number includes Sebastien Salem, a DJ murdered in 2003 by a Muslim childhood friend in the garage of the Muslim’s apartment house. That friend since childhood, Adel Amastaibou, took out a long knife and stabbed Sebastien Salem repeatedly in the chest, killing him. He then went upstairs to his mother’s apartment and told her and then the police when they arrived, “I killed a Jew, I will go to paradise. Allah made me do it.”
Adel was apparently jealous of Sebastian’s success as a D.J. He was not brought to trial, but judged to be “insane,” even though the Qur’an itself tells Muslims to “strike at the necks” of the Infidels.
Another French Jewish victim of murderous Muslims was Ilan Halimi, who despite his modest job as a mobile phone salesman, was assumed by his assailants to be from a rich family – because they were Jews, “and all Jews are rich” – who would therefore pay a good ransom. He was kidnapped in 2006, and for several weeks constantly tortured; when the police found him tied to a tree, naked, with wounds all over his body, he was near death, and died soon after. The sentences handed down to the fifteen members of the gang were risible: only the ringleader, Youssef Fofana, received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, most of the others received sentences of less than ten years, despite being guilty of participating in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Ilan Halimi.
Then there was 84-year-old Mireille Knoll, a Holocaust survivor who in 2018 was severely beaten, and then burned to death, in her own home, by a young Muslim whom she had known since his childhood, and his accomplice. Additionally, there were the victims of the Islamist gun attacks on a Jewish school in Toulouse in 2012 and a kosher market in Paris in 2015 — eight in all, among them three young children.
Let’s give each, not his or her due, for that would be impossible, but at least add a few details for the sake of their memory. Mireille Knoll, the Holocaust survivor, had befriended a Muslim neighbor since he was a child; it was he, with an accomplice, who chose to beat. and then burn to death, Mireillle Knoll as they sought out her nonexistent riches that they were convinced “a Jew” would have. The three young children who died in the Toulouse attack outside a Jewish school were the two sons of Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, Gavriel, aged 3, and Aryeh, aged 6, and an unrelated little Jewish girl, Myriam Monsonego, aged 7. Sandler saw his two sons murdered before his eyes before he was killed himself.
Unless and until Kobili Traore is tried, and the fifteen witnesses who can give evidence of the premeditated nature of Halimi’s murder are allowed to testify, so that he will. be sentenced to life in prison, rather than spending a few years, at most, in the comfort of a psychiatric hospital, with regular intervals allowed outside, there will be no justice for Sarah Halimi.
somehistory says
These are all horrible. Those responsible include the so-called “judge,” who was too busy to do her job…because she didn’t give a fig for what the scummy mozlum had done.
There will be Justice. Not from man….or woman…but from One Who actually does care and Who has declared how His rage will come up and He will act.
Believe it or not as a matter of choice. I firmly believe it. As angry as a human can feel over these things, the One the Bible calls our Creator, made us in His image….and His anger will be expressed.
martin fidal says
It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that the judge has the same drug dealer !
somehistory says
Me neither. Or that the police who “waited” were also mozlum
martin infidal says
I noticed London’s police force is changing colour, now whilst I really have no gripe with colour it does appear to the shade of islam
Something I saw many years ago was sharia councils, these are their way to get around the term sharia court and our daft ass “leadership” cannot see it or are taking a nice back hander to keep quiet
Ray Jarman says
As has been questioned by many in the not so distant past, what would have occurred if the roles had been reversed? There is no doubt that if the victim had been a Muslim and the perpetrator had been a non-member of the hideous cult, the worldwide press would have been wetting its pants. This poor lady deserves more from a justice (non-justice) system than she received.
Hank says
” the night he broke into Halimi’s apartment and beat her savagely while shouting antisemitic epithets”
It was Islam and its doctrines that infected his mental state, not the Cannabis.
“France’s highest court that since Traore had taken what it termed an “acute delirious puff” on a cannabis joint that eliminated his “discernement” — or self-awareness — he could not “be judged criminally even when his mental state was caused by the regular consumption of drugs.” ”
To Frances highest court – are you kidding me.
“She was dead set on getting him off on a charge of a sudden burst of “insanity” brought on by smoking cannabis”
If these are the kind of people that occupy positions of authority – then no wonder Paris is burning
Martin fidal says
Correct, but these pathetic judges are too weak to do what is necessary ! They would rather pass on the problem to a future generation when it will be a lot harder to fix !
BTeboe says
Judge better hope some judgement is not passed on her by the French people.
martin fidal says
It only needs the wrong person/people to get upset enough for her to finally see justice for once !
Barbara says
The antisemitism of WWII is actively in practice. It is more active now than before. It is allowed because the Muslim is the ‘poor woe is me” segment of society.
Bexarkat says
Yes, I just saw the movie “Sarah’s Key” and forgot how poorly the French treated their Jews during that era, not just in Vichy France, but in the north as well. The French allowed / enabled / assisted in 76,000 Jews to be deported.
Phil Copson says
I believe that these judges – in France and elsewhere – know, fear, or even wish that Islam would take over, and set out to impose the most lenient sentences on muslims that they can, as a form of “insurance policy”.
In the event that they are threatened with reprisals, they can point to their record: “Look” they will say, “just look at this long string of minimal sentences – or even no custodial sentences at all! – that I passed down – I’m on your side!”
Martin Fidel says
History will tell you that it doesn’t work with islam !
Kesselman says
This case is outrageous, as many cases involve mozlums throughout Western Europe. Some “goodhearted” people cannot understand why anti-Semitism once again seems to plague the continent. For enlightened others, it seems unavoidable with the constant intake of unplaceable fortune seekers from the MENA countries, braindead and hellbent to cause havoc where they settle; it is in the Mideast or elsewhere.
—France, you haven’t learned the lesson yet, and I doubt you ever will.
Martin Fidel says
why do my comments keep getting deleted ???
martin fidal says
History will tell you that it doesn’t work with islam !
Kenneth Johnson says
yES, france doesnt have a a prettty history wth the Jews. The Dreyfus affair, the encokuragement of anti Israel motions in the Eurropean Councilk, the constant opposis ition to Israel’s self defense., accepting Muslems in spite of their anti-semitism. KEN
VictorMc says
Yes to all that. Now look at the real stats.
France once had around 750,000 Jews (3rd. largest pop. in the world) it is now down to around 450,000.
Jews are/were the lawyers the educated the cognoscenti.
France is finished as any sort of world influence and people like this dim-witted ‘judge’ are responsible.
.
gershompesach says
Au revoir france, au revoir europa….
Check Burry says
The UK gov are today asking us Brits to take in an illegal, mostly young males, no way hosay, lock up your daughters for a start. The one who should take some in are the dicks in the house of lords, see how it feels to have a blade at your throat M,lord
Kevin Kraemer says
I wonder what would happen if a Jewish person did the identical thing to the perpetrator, would that person be deemed temporarily insane???