Macron in France is calling for a change in the law following Sarah Halimi’s ruling

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French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a change in the law after last week the French highest court of appeal ruled that killer Sarah Halimi could not be prosecuted for her actions since she took cannabis before committing the crime.

“The decision to use drugs and ‘insanity’ should not, in my eyes, take away your criminal responsibility,” Macron told Le Figaro in an interview published on Sunday.

“On this issue, I would like the Minister of Justice to present an amendment to the law as soon as possible,” he said.

“It is not for me to comment on a court decision, but I would like to tell the family, the victim’s relatives and all fellow citizens of the Jewish faith who were waiting for this trial with my warm support and the Republic’s determination to protect them,” Macron said.

The French Jewish community was upset by the Court of Cassation’s decision.

In April 2017, Kobili Traoré, a 27-year-old Muslim man, beat his 65-year-old Jewish neighbor Halimi while shouting “Allahu Akhbar” and anti-Semitic slogans before throwing her out the apartment window. its from the third floor. .

A lower court ruled in December 2019 that Traore was not criminally responsible for his actions because his high cannabis use compromised his “discernment” or conscience.

The Court of Cassation upheld the ruling last week.

Macron’s comments followed outrage from the French Jewish community over the court’s ruling and statements by Jewish leaders that they intended to lobby for a change in the law.

Several Jewish organizations plan to protest next Sunday against the decision at Place Du Trocadero in Paris.

Yonthan Arfi, vice president of CRIF (the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions), condemned the ruling, saying it had left a hole in the state’s ability to combat hate crimes.

There would be no other way to convict and punish Traore, but CRIF will fight on two fronts to fix the problem on a larger scale, he said.

CRIF will conduct an awareness campaign on Halimi’s crime and make sure the general public knows its story, Arfi said.

The organization will seek an amendment to the law so that people are still criminally responsible for their actions, even if they have used drugs, he said.

“We are starting to build a consensus on this idea,” he added. “Many people in France consider it natural that if you drink wine and get into a car accident, you are responsible for losing control of your car.”

Such a bill has not yet been presented to the French parliament, but many members of parliament have expressed support for such an amendment, Arfi said.

“This murder was symbolic of the new anti-Semitism,” he said. “The perpetrator was a Muslim. He prayed to Allah as he killed her. He was radicalized with a radical Islamist vision and knew she was Jewish, so we cannot accept that the anti-Semitic part of this crime should be erased from the collective memory of Sarah Halimi in French society. “

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