Posted on 02/21/2006 3:57:29 AM PST by Cornpone
Paris - A young Jewish man who died after being kidnapped and tortured for weeks may have fallen victim to a racist attack, French leaders said on Monday, vowing to catch and punish those responsible for an "unspeakable barbarity".
France has been shocked by the murder of Ilan Halimi, 23, a mobile telephone salesman killed after being held captive for three weeks, and Jewish community leader Roger Cukierman urged the government to "provide the whole truth" about the case.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told Jewish community leaders at their annual dinner that the judge handling the case was investigating leads pointing to an anti-Semitic attack, and said he had ordered his interior and justice ministers to shed all possible light on the affair.
Investigating magistrate Corinne Goetzmann placed seven suspects under formal investigation on Monday for kidnapping, illegal imprisonment, criminal association and "murder linked to the victim's religion".
Died on the way to hospital
Their victim Halimi, was found on February 13 lying in agony by a railway line outside Paris, with stab wounds and burns over much of his body. He died on the way to hospital.
Police said a gang led by a man calling himself "brain of the barbarians" used a young woman to lure Halimi into a trap and then detained and tortured him while demanding a ransom.
The gang, whose members are thought to be aged between 17 and 32, are suspected of involvement in six other kidnappings since the end of last year.
They contacted Halimi's family via the internet, text messages and by telephone, demanding a ransom of €450 000. The family was unable to raise the funds.
Anti-Semitism feared
Until now, police have publicly denied any anti-Semitic link, saying the gang led by an Ivory Coast immigrant with a Muslim name had also attacked non-Jews. But about 1 200 people, mostly Jews, marched in Paris on Sunday to protest against the killing.
"Was Ilan Halimi killed because he was Jewish?" Cukierman, head of the Council of French Jewish Institutions, asked at the dinner attended by Villepin and several ministers.
"We will do everything possible so those who committed this barbarous crime are arrested and brought to justice," Villepin replied.
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, whose police services have until now been reluctant to class the killing a hate crime, condemned the murder as "an act of unspeakable barbarity".
Justice Minister Pascal Clement told the same dinner one suspect had indicated Halimi was selected "because he was Jewish and because a Jew was rich. That is an aggravating circumstance, it means that the resonance is no longer the same."
Kidnapped and tortured by whom?
This gang had already kidnapped several people before they kidnapped and killed this man. What happened to those other people? Were the police even trying to arrest them? I feel that there is much more to this story.
This story has been posted here for the last couple of days (from the French and Israeli press). The others were actually attempted kidnappings, and the only time the gang was successful was with this man. The victims targeted in the others were Jews, from a Jewish neighborhood of Paris, and the kidnappers were - guess what - North African Muslims.
It's always interesting to me when someone has to order a person in a justice department to do the job they were hired for.
After about a week the Froggies are finally beginning to notice this may have been a hate crime. Thos are some sharp detectives over there. Who is running that outfit :Clousseau?
Kidnapped by a man with a Moslem name, but of course the effort bore no relationship to the victim having been Jewish.
That may in fact be somewhat valid, if the group had held non-Jews as well. Even the fact that the group might have picked this guy because of the Jewish name, thinking he'd be wealthy doesn't exactly tie in to racism, if the goal was based on possible wealth rather than the intent to target a Jew because of hatred.
I'm not exactly quick to attribute things to racism in all instances. That being said, any human that would do this to another, should be skinned alive, drawn and quartered and left to die in the streets like a dog. As for the woman who enticed this young man, oh baby do I beleive in equal rights.
Check that. I wouldn't treat a dog like I would these folks. They operate on a higher mental level.
The French disgusts me.
Jews blown up at pizza parlor, Jews fault for retaliating to earlier terrorist attack.
Muslims kill 3,000 in NY, lets remember, we had slaves 150 years ago.
Whites drag black man to death, Bush's fault for not signing hate crimes bill.
White man dragged by blacks to death, robbery that went bad.
Black church burns down, must be white racists.
White church burns down, can't be race related because the churches were white.
Muslims riot over cartoons, Publishers responsible should be punished for provoking such response.
We live in a sick world.
Hmmmm...just can't bring themselves quite yet to admit that a Muslim was primarily responsible for this crime and that Jews are his gang's primary targets, Christians being second.
Jews blown up at pizza parlor, Jews fault for retaliating to earlier terrorist attack.
Muslims kill 3,000 in NY, lets remember, we had slaves 150 years ago.
Whites drag black man to death, Bush's fault for not signing hate crimes bill.
White man dragged by blacks to death, robbery that went bad.
Black church burns down, must be white racists.
White church burns down, can't be race related because the churches were white.
Muslims riot over cartoons, Publishers responsible should be punished for provoking such response.
We live in a sick world.
Then you have to add this into the mix, which I personally find more depressing than any of the above:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1578343/posts
Member of Marines not 'sort of person UW wanted to produce'. The University of Washington's student senate rejected a memorial for alumnus Gregory "Pappy" Boyington of "Black Sheep Squadron" fame amid concerns a military hero who shot down enemy planes was not the right kind of person to represent the school. Student senator Jill Edwards, according to minutes of the student government's meeting last week, said she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."
France isn't the only nation with this problem.
Today is the 21st, I guess the police ruled it was anti-Semitic until a few days ago.
That is not bad for a Police Department.
The way it works in these situations is the Police will not make snap judgments but look a bit more deeper into a case.
Also a Police team will not just be working on one case but a whole series of cases.
Also as the gang have a history of attempted kidnap and did demand a ransom that would confuse the issue even further.
This is no different to any other police department MO
(2) The animals who did this need to be hunted down - not taken into custody.
(3) The family was wrong to negotiate - any money they paid to these beasts would have been used to hurt more Jews. These filth are using kidnappings to fund anti-Semitic terrorism.
Members of the Follies Bergere?
ML/NJ
Thanks for filling me in. I read the other stories but I must not have read them closely enough.
I read that a few days ago, its really ridiculous.
Actually, that's easy to do - the press gave practically no details about this, and you had to piece it together. I think that without the demonstration by Jews in Paris the other day, the press would still be hiding it.
"I think that without the demonstration by Jews in Paris the other day, the press would still be hiding it."
I agree, the reports were quite vague, I suppose evasive might not be too strong a word. I thought that may have been due to the general lack of interest in foreign news, also on a desire by France to not keep looking like such a lawless place, as it has been looking. But perhaps the French press is also, or primarily, to blame.
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