NEW YORK -- The World Jewish Congress (WJC) stands with our affiliate, the Representative Council of the Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), in expressing our dismay at the decision of France’s highest court that Kobili Traoré, the killer of a Jewish woman, will not stand trial.
On April 4, 2017, Sarah Halimi, a retired Jewish physician and mother of three, was brutally beaten and murdered by Traoré, who admitted to these crimes. The ‘Cour de cassation,’ France’s highest court, upheld a ruling by lower courts deciding that Traoré could neither be held criminally responsible for his actions nor stand trial after succumbing to a “delirious fit” following his consumption of marijuana. The case is now considered closed.
The WJC joins with French Jewry in deploring that by its ruling, the Cour de cassation has prevented Sarah Halimi from receiving even a measure of justice. The Halimi family deserves better from their nation’s judicial system.
The Chief Rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, the President of CRIF and WJC Vice President, Francis Kalifat, and other French Jewish leaders have called for supporters of Halimi’s family to participate in a rally scheduled to take place in Paris on Sunday, April 25 at 2:00pm to protest the court’s decision.
To read our statement in French click here.