Thousands rally in France for slain Jewish woman as her anti-Semitic killer escapes justice after being declared ‘not criminally responsible’

Kobili Traoré, 31, killed Sarah Halimi in 2017 while reciting verses from the Quran and declaring "I killed the Shaitan". In Islamic mythology, Shaitan is an evil spirit that is said to occupy people and encourage them to sin – Satan, in other words. Traoré, an immigrant from Mali, had a history of psychiatric hospitalizations and lived on the same floor while allegedly selling small amounts of street drugs.

Halimi, a retired doctor and mother of 3, was the only Jewish resident in the building and anti-Semitism was believed to be a motive for the killing. Prosecutor Francis Molins initially declined to cite anti-Semitism as the motive, however months later investigators finally admitted that anti-Semitism was the primary motive for the brutal murder.

In addition to calling Halimi a "Shaitan," Traoré was heard praying out loud throughout the killing of Halimi and shouting "Allahu Akbar."

In 2019, a magistrate ruled that Traoré was not criminally responsible for the killing because of his heavy cannabis use prior to the killing which allegedly called a state of psychosis. Traoré was diagnosed with Bouffée délirante, a uniquely French diagnosis which means "delusional flash" and refers to a brief period of psychosis with endless potential causes.

The family of Sarah Halimi have long been unsatisfied with Traoré being found not criminally responsible. The finding has survived 3 appeals by the Halimi family and France's high court, the Court of Cassation upheld the ruling earlier this month sparking a fresh round of protests.

The Halimi family has pledged to take the case to European Court of Human Rights and has found strong support in the Jewish community. Political figures including French President Emmanuel Macron have criticized the court of appeals saying, "even if, in the end, the judge decided that there was no criminal responsibility, there is a need for a trial."

The judge who authored the recent opinion in the Court of Cassation called out Macron saying, "the independence of the justice system, of which the president of the Republic is the guarantor, is an essential factor in the functioning of democracy."