A Muslim man killed a Jewish woman two years ago in Paris, shouting “Allah” and calling her a “demon.”
His preliminary ruling was not guilty — because he was stoned.
Kobili Traore, 29, beat Sarah Halimi and threw her off the roof of her apartment building after he smoked marijuana.
The French judge investigating the case said that there are “plausible reasons” to believe Traore’s “discernment was abolished” at the time of the incident and he wasn’t in control of his faculties.
Critics have slammed the ruling, such as Francis Khalifat, president of Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France, an umbrella organization of Jewish communities that speaks out against anti-Semitism.
“What is this new rule that renders a murderer, who is voluntarily controlled by drugs, unfit for trial, while condemning with greater severity a motorist who has committed an accident under the influence of the same drug?” Khalifat wrote in an op-ed. “Who are we laughing at?”
Alternatives mentioned for Traore’s arrest include hospitalization for psychotic lapses, drug rehabilitation, or simply his release.
Sammy Ghozlan, the founder of France’s Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, said that he believes Halimi’s trial is “heading to a miscarriage of justice.”
“In France today, is being Jewish a form of incitement to murder by disturbed individuals?” Ghozlan said. “Today I no longer have full confidence that anti-Semitic hate crimes in France are handled properly.”
Traore also called Halimi’s daughter a “dirty Jewess” numerous times prior to the murder, according to the daughter.
He was initially only charged for manslaughter, not a hate crime, but it was added six months later. Neither the Justice Ministry nor police have commented while the case is still pending.
