France To Re-Try Gangsters Over Murder

Following a rare intervention by Justice Minister, the court decided to re-try 14 of the 25 members of the gang who were sentenced.

A Paris appeals court will re-try members of a gang found guilty last week of kidnapping a young Jewish man who was later tortured to death, on the grounds that their sentences were too lenient.

In a rare intervention, Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie asked the public prosecutor on Monday to appeal for longer jail terms against 14 of the 25 sentenced members of the gang after Jewish groups protested against the original sentences.

"The 14 received sentences that were more lenient than those requested by the public prosecutor," a spokesman for the prosecution said.

They include a girl who lured 23-year-old Ilan Halimi into the Paris suburb where he was abducted by the self-proclaimed "gang of barbarians" and tortured for more than three weeks.

Prosecutors had requested a jail term of 10-12 years for the girl, but she was sentenced to nine years as she was a minor at the time of the crime, in 2006.

The new trial will take place in about a year.

Hundreds of demonstrators, some carrying white flowers, French flags and portraits of Halimi, gathered on Monday night and shouted "Justice for Ilan" and "Bravo Madame Alliot-Marie."

In a case that shocked France and highlighted rising anti-Semitism on the poor suburban estates around Paris, gang leader Youssouf Fofana was jailed for life on Friday -- the maximum penalty under French law, with a minimum period in jail of 22 years. He will not be re-tried.

Twenty-four other members received sentences ranging from six months suspended to 18 years in prison. Two were acquitted.

Jewish organisations have demanded stiffer punishment for many of the gang members to send a strong signal against anti-Semitism.

The gang abducted Halimi, unsuccessfully tried to extort a ransom, tortured him until he was close to death and then dumped him near a train station. He died shortly after he was found.

Fofana, a 28 year-old of Ivoirian origin, expressed no remorse, instead showing defiance throughout the trial.

On various occiasions, he smirked at Halimi's relatives, shouted "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is the Greatest!) and at one point threw shoes at lawyers.