Jessica Rogers
May 1, 2009
1:10 am
The leader of a French kidnap gang has gone on trial in Paris after being accused of killing a young Jewish man in 2006. Youssouf Fofana admits that he kidnapped the man, Ilan Halimi, but denies actually killing him. As he entered the court room he shouted "God is great" in Arabic and continued to make disturbing comments. For example, when asked when he was born, he replied, February 13, 2006, the day that Ilan Halimi was reported dead. Fofana is the leader of a gang known as The Barbarians, and for years has advocated for anti-Semitism in France. He has ordered the gang to kidnap and torture Jews until ransom was paid. Halimi was lured to an empty apartment in the Parisian suberbs, where he was then attacked, drugged and tortured.
What I do not understand is how Fofana can possibly plead 'not guilty' in this case. You kidnap and torture someone, tie them naked to a tree and stab them, do you really think they will stay alive? Would Fofana really have any intention of keeping him alive if the ransom were already going to be paid? He may not have been the one to stab him, but in the end, it was his organization, his plan. I think that all of the gang members should be locked away, but having their leader put away is a good start. Halimi had done nothing wrong, and yet he was treated like a criminal just because he had a different belief system. And it isn't like Muslim's are that much of a majority either in France. According to the CIA World Factbook, Muslim's only make up about 5-10% of the population. More than the Jewish 1%, but still, it isn't the vast majority. I guess it goes to show that you don't have to be first, you just can't be last.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8023990.stm
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