The model of postcards sent to Emmanuel Macron demanding justice for Sarah Halimi -

Israelite Consistory of Haut-Rhin

  • Sarah Halimi was defenestrated by her neighbor in April 2017 under the helpless eye of her neighbors.

  • The author of the facts, Kobili Traoré, suffered according to psychiatric experts from "acute delusional puff".

  • In December 2019, the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal to declare him “criminally irresponsible” had sparked a heated debate.

Kobili Traoré has never sought to deny, or even to minimize the scope of his gesture.

"What I have committed is horrible, I regret what I did and I apologize to the civil parties", admitted in July 2017 in the office of the examining magistrate this man now aged 30 years.

On the night of April 3-4, 2017, he broke into the house of his neighbor, Sarah Halimi, 65, on the third floor of a building in the Belleville district, in Paris, beat her up and then beat her up. defenestrated.

Many witnesses helplessly witnessed the drama, some also heard him reciting suras from the Koran or shouting "Allahu Akbar".

As shocking as his gesture is, Kobili Traoré, will not, a priori, be brought before an assize court.

Unless the Court of Cassation, which examines this case this Wednesday, returns to the decision of the investigative chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal.

On December 19, 2019, the latter considered that the murderer's discernment was abolished at the time of the act and that he can therefore not answer criminally.

No less than seven psychiatric experts have looked into this case and all are unanimous: during the murder of Sarah Halimi, the suspect suffered from an "acute delusional puff".

They also agree that the cannabis he consumed heavily - about fifteen joints a day - at least accentuated his delusional flushes.

Controversy to the top of the state

It is on the consequences of such consumption that psychiatrists oppose.

For Daniel Zagury, the first to have met Kobili Traoré, his “voluntary and regular” consumption of cannabis makes him partially responsible for his act.

“Of course he didn't use cannabis for X years to kill Ms. Halimi.

But he put himself in a situation where events such as this could occur, ”said this regular of the courts.

Two other colleges of experts, on the other hand, considered that he could ignore the hallucinogenic effects of this drug and spoke in favor of criminal irresponsibility.

Despite the recognition by the Court of Appeal of the anti-Semitic nature of his gesture - which was the subject, throughout the investigation, of heated controversy - and the decision of "full hospitalization in a psychiatric environment" for 20 years, the decision had sparked heated controversy.

Up to the top of the state.

Traveling to Israel a few days later, Emmanuel Macron spoke of “the need for a trial” in this highly sensitive issue.

"The magistrates of the Court of Cassation must be able to examine in all serenity and in all independence the appeals submitted to them", had replied dryly, in a press release, Chantal Arens and François Molins, respectively first president of the Court of Cassation and its Attorney General, the highest functions of the judiciary.

What to expect from the Court of Cassation?

The Sages' examination will not focus on the substance of the case but on its conformity with the law.

In short: they will not seek to establish whether the judgment of Kobili Traoré was or was not abolished, but whether the decision of the magistrates of the court of appeal complies, as the file stands, with the legislation.

And it is difficult, given the meager case law on the subject, to anticipate their decision.

The case nevertheless echoes the murder of Sébastien Selam, assassinated in 2003 by his next door neighbor Adel Amstaibu.

Despite his confession, he was declared criminally irresponsible because he was in the grip of an episode of "delusional schizophrenia".

In this case also, questions of anti-Semitism - the man exclaimed after his gesture "I killed a Jew, I will go to paradise" - and cannabis were central.

And as in the Kobili Traoré case, the magistrates of the Court of Appeal considered that his consumption of narcotics "having been carried out without awareness of the possible consequences", could not justify his criminal responsibility.

A few months later, the Court of Cassation considered that this analysis fell within the discretion of the judges.

It remains to be seen whether the Wise Men will draw the same assessment from the Halimi affair.

If they set aside the judgment of the court of appeal, a new hearing before another court of appeal will be ordered.

And the latter may - or not - do a different analysis of the case and decide to send Kobili Traoré before an assize court to answer for the murder of Sarah Halimi.

Justice

Murder of Sarah Halimi: Kobili Traoré, the main suspect, will he one day be tried?

Justice

Murder of Sarah Halimi: The main suspect, Kobili Traoré, declared criminally irresponsible

  • Murder

  • Anti-semitism

  • Court of Cassation

  • Paris

  • Justice