The family of Ilan Halimi, the Jewish man murdered in the French capital in 2006, reportedly left the Paris courtroom on Thursday to protest the judge's handling of the trial against Youssouf Fofana and 27 other young people for killing Halimi. Fofana reportedly made intimidating comments, saying he had friends in the courtroom who would "take pictures to identify people." When the judge refused to silence Fofana, the family and their lawyers walked out.
The trial, closed to the public because two suspects were minors at the time of the killing, is expected to last several weeks. Fofana, 28, admits to kidnapping Halimi but denies stabbing him to death.
Halimi was kidnapped in January 2006, tied up in a cellar and tortured for 24 days in the suburb of Bagneux,. His kidnappers tried unsuccessfully to extort a US$ 600,000 ransom from his family. He was found naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks south of Paris, and died en route to a hospital.
