A French public prosecutor has recommended the maximum prison sentence for the gang leader who kidnapped and killed 23-year-old Jewish man Ilan Halimi. Philippe Bilger argued that Youssouf Fofana deserved life in prison with a minimum of 22 years without the possibility of parole, for torturing and killing Halimi, in 2006, with the help of 26 other suspects and members of his gang, called the ‘Barbarians’.
Halimi was entrapped, sequestered, tortured and finally died before he could reach hospital in 2006, as a result of a three-week ordeal at the hands of a gang allegedly led by Fofana, in a crime that shocked France and raised fears of surging anti-Semitism among French Muslims.
Bilger maintains that Fofana acted out of anti-Semitic motives. Sentencing is expected on 11 July.