Ilan Halimi was a 23-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan Jewish ancestry living in Paris with his mother and two sisters. On the 20th of January, 2006, a young woman came into the store where he worked and stuck up a conversation. The two exchanged phone numbers and the following day, the woman called him and invited him to an apartment block in the Parisian banlieues for a drink. When Ilan arrived, he was ambushed by a group of men that called themselves the “Gang of Barbarians.”
The gang was anti-Semetic and held the belief that all Jewish people were rich. Ilan was subjected to three weeks of beatings and torture as the gang tried to extract a $450,000 ransom from his modest family. According to Ilan’s uncle, Rafi Halimi, the gang called the family several times “and made them listen to the recitation of verses from the Quran, while Ilan’s tortured screams could be heard in the background.” The gang cut off bits of his flesh, stabbed him, cut his fingers and ears, and burned him with acid. Over the course of the three weeks, Ilan’s head was wrapped in duct tape so that he could only breathe and eat through a straw.
On the final day, Youssef Fofana, the leader of the gang, slit Ilan’s throat twice and poured gasoline on him and attempted to burn him to death. Afterwards, the gang dumped him next to a road at Saint-Genevieve-Des-Bois where a passerby found him. Unfortunately Ilan died from his injuries on the way to the hospital. Ilan had sustained burns to 80% of his body, had broken bones, had stab wounds and contusions, and was missing an ear and a big toe.
The brutal murder sent shock waves across the country. The fact that something so heinous could happen in France, which had the largest Jewish population in Europe, set off alarms about a rise in anti-Semitism. A total of 27 people were accused of being involved in the trial and were tried for kidnapping and murder. Youssouf Fofana, the gang leader, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. 17 of the others received sentences ranging from three to 18 years. The others received lesser sentences while three were acquitted.
