YOUSSOUF FOFANA, the leader of the self-proclaimed “Gang of Barbarians” that kidnapped and tortured to death a young Jewish man, was last night sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 22 years.
Fofana, the French-born son of immigrants from the Ivory Coast, stood trial for the past 10 weeks with 26 accomplices.
Fofana chose Ilan Halimi (23), an employee in a mobile phone shop, because he was Jewish and, Fofana said, “Jews are loaded”.
A young woman from the gang lured Halimi to an apartment in the immigrant Parisian suburb of Bagneux. She and another woman who entrapped men for ransom were last night sentenced to nine years in prison.
Halimi was beaten, drugged, burned with cigarettes and held in a cellar before Fofana doused him with petrol and set fire to him.
Halimi was found naked beside railway tracks in the suburb of Sainte Geneviève des Bois on February 13th, 2006.
He died on the way to hospital and was eventually buried in Jerusalem.
Fofana fled to the Ivory Coast, from where he reportedly made threatening phone calls to Halimi’s family.
When he was extradited to France the following month, Fofana confessed to the murder, but repeatedly changed his plea and his lawyers.
Halimi’s family wanted a public trial but it was held behind closed doors because some of the accused were minors.
The family and Jewish groups claimed the murder was an anti- Semitic act, an aggravating circumstance, but the defence claimed it was mainly for money.
Fofana’s two closest accomplices were sentenced to 15 and 18 years in prison, less than the 20 years requested by the prosecutor. Other members of the gang were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison.