Ilan Halimi

Ilan Halimi
Born 11 October 1982
Died 13 February 2006 (aged 23)[1]
Paris, France
Cause of death
 Injuries from torture
Occupation Cell phone salesman

Ilan Halimi (Hebrew: אילן חלימי‎) was a young French Jewish man of Moroccan descent[2] who was kidnapped on 21 January 2006 by a group called the Gang of Barbarians and subsequently tortured, over a period of three weeks, resulting in his death.

Personal life

Halimi was a cell phone salesman[3] in Paris. He lived there with his divorced mother and his two sisters.

Kidnapping

Paris, Jardin Ilan Halimi, Sign
Ilan Halimi garden in the Jerusalem Forest

Halimi was abducted and taken to Bagneux where he was held captive and tortured for three weeks. A demand for ransom was made to his parents. He was released and found in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. He died on the way to hospital.

Halimi was initially buried in the Cimetière parisien de Pantin near Paris. The funeral in Paris drew a large Jewish crowd.

He was reburied in Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel on February 9, 2007.[4] A garden in the Jerusalem Forest was named after him.

Aftermath

More than 1,000 people marched through the streets of Paris, demanding justice for Halimi, on Sunday February 26, 2006.[5]

In May 2011, a garden in the 12th arrondissement of Paris was renamed after him. Halimi used to play in this garden as a child.

His mother (Ruth) published a book (written together with Émilie Frèche) about his case: 24 jours: la vérité sur la mort d’Ilan Halimi (Seuil, ISBN 978-2020910286).

In late April 2014, a movie by French filmmaker Alexandre Arcady about this case was released. Entitled “24 Jours: La vérité sur l’affaire Ilan Halimi” (24 Days: The Truth about the Ilan Halimi Case), it is based on the above-mentioned book.[6]

References

  1. ↑ König, Yaël (March 20, 2006). "Entretien avec Ruth Halimi" (in French). Primo-Europe. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  2. ↑ Fields, Suzanne (April 3, 2006). "The Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
  3. ↑ Tale of Torture and Murder Horrifies the Whole of France, Michel Gurfinkiel, The New York Sun, February 22, 2006.
  4. ↑ Trials and Tribulations, by Brett Kline, (c) JTA, The Jewish Herald, July 24, 2009, pp. 20-23
  5. ↑ Article on the European Jewish Press website
  6. ↑ Byron, Joseph (May 6, 2014). "New French film about the grisly murder of Ilan Halimi". European Jewish Press. Retrieved 2015-01-14.