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Protests in France as man who killed Jewish woman avoids trial

The decision not to try Kobili Traoré over 2017 killing of Sarah Halimi, 65, has provoked international outrage.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Thousands of protesters have rallied in Paris and across France after the killer of a Jewish woman was declared unfit to stand trial because he was judged to have suffered a psychotic episode caused by cannabis use, reports The Guardian.

Kobili Traoré is accused of beating 65-year-old Lucie Attal – better known as Sarah Halimi – and throwing her from the balcony her Paris apartment in 2017.

French courts have recognised the killing as an antisemitic crime but declared that 32-year-old Traoré, currently in a psychiatric hospital, could not be tried as he was in the grip of a drug-induced “delusional fit” and not in control of his actions.

The decision made 12 days ago by France’s highest court, the cour de cassation, to uphold the ruling has prompted anger among Halimi’s family and the wider community.

Read more of this report from The Guardian.