YNET NEWS: Youssouf Fofana, head of the 'gang of barbarians' responsible for kidnapping, torturing 23-year-old French Jew Ilan Halimi to death in 2006 sentenced to life imprisonment; 24 other gang members also convicted
The leader of a group that called itself a "gang of barbarians" was sentenced to life imprisonment by a French court on Friday for kidnapping and torturing a young Jewish man for more than three weeks before leaving him to die.
The gang abducted 23-year-old Ilan Halimi in 2006, unsuccessfully tried to extort a ransom for their captive, tortured him until he was close to death and then left him near a train station. He died shortly after he was found.
The case shocked France and turned a spotlight on anti-Semitic violence in the poor, multi-ethnic suburbs around many big French cities.
Amid tight courtroom security, Youssouf Fofana, the gang's leader, who admitted killing Halimi, was sentenced to life imprisonment, the maximum penalty under French law, with a minimum period in jail of 22 years.
Twenty-four other gang members were handed sentences ranging from six months suspended to 18 years in prison. Two were acquitted.
"I am pleased that the Paris court of assizes has recognized the anti-Semitic character of this crime," Francis Szpiner, a lawyer for Halimi's family told reporters outside the courtroom.
"It was because he was Jewish that Ilan Halimi was killed and tortured. Noone can challenge this judicial truth." >>> Reuters | Saturday, July 11, 2009
