A terrible crime in Paris

Readers may need to consult the Internet to read details of a trial currently taking place in Paris, because the facts are unlikely to appear often (if at all ) on the BBC. It involves the kidnap and murder of a young Israeli called Ilan Halimi, for who's death 27 people are currently standing trial.

In 2006, Ilan was lured into an apparent honey trap and kidnapped by a black, predominantly Muslim, gang who aptly call themselves "The Barbarians". The 23 year old was then kept alive for three weeks, during which time he was repeatedly tortured and brutalised. The three week ordeal ended with his being left for dead, naked, bound and gagged, on a suburban railway line. Halimi had been repeatedly stabbed and burnt with cigarette butts before being doused with spirits and set alight.

Despite suffering burns to 80 per cent of his body, he was still alive when found by a train driver, but he was unable to speak and died on the way to hospital.

There is a strong belief that this was a hate crime and that Ilan was targeted because he was Jewish, however, the authorities are attempting to present it as a criminal enterprise (sound familiar?) a claim rather undermined by the fact that accused gang members are prone to " shouts of "Allah Achbar" from the dock.

The details are not easy to read, and who knows how the trial will turn our, given some of the insane jury verdicts we have seen recently. However, it is something we need to know about, for it is not the last of such horrors which we in occupied Europe will have to witness.