Hopes of justice for murdered Sarah Halimi at long last
THE FAMILY of a murdered Jewish Frenchwoman whose killer avoided trial because his crime was blamed on cannabis-induced psychosis hope a new probe will give them a chance of justice.
The decision not to put Kobili Traore on trial for the kindergarten director’s murder caused widespread outrage across France and the world.
Traore broke into the flat of Mrs Halimi, 65, his neighbour in Paris, in April 2017. Shouting antisemitic slogans, he threw her off her balcony to her death.
Last April, France’s top court upheld the decision he should not be tried. Psychiatric experts said Traore had psychosis caused by cannabis. He was placed in a mental hospital.
But others criticised the decision, saying he had taken the drugs by choice. Mrs Halimi’s family allege he targeted her deliberately and fooled experts afterwards.
A parliamentary commission into the killing begins this month. Mrs Halimi’s brother William Attal said: “I hope this case will prove at last that Kobili Traore premeditated the killing. This was a horrifying deliberate antisemitic murder. Investigators who worked on the case, the investigating judge and my sister’s neighbours who witnessed the killing will testify for the first time.”
Mr Attal’s lawyer Muriel OuaknineMelki told the JC: “Our hope is that this investigation will uncover new elements that will allow us to reopen the case and bring the killer to justice.
“The goal of the inquiry is not to denounce the mishandling of the investigation because any justice professional knows this. No one can say that it’s normal not to examine a suspected killer’s phone line. Reenacting a murder scene is almost systematic. Refusing to do so is a huge failing. It amounts to malpractice.
“Unfortunately, legal acts that investigators failed to carry out can no longer be performed. But new elements may still emerge from the hearings.”
The inquiry is due to last six months.