‘Gang of barbarians’ on trial for brutal murder of Jew

A SELF-PROCLAIMED “gang of barbarians” accused of kidnapping a young Jewish man in a Paris suburb, torturing him for 24 days and killing him, went on trial yesterday.

The death of Ilan Halimi, 23, in 2006 horrified France and came to symbolise a rise in anti-Semitic violence in its poor, multi-ethnic suburbs.

The leader of the “barbarians”, Youssouf Fofana, smirked at Halimi’s relatives and shouted “Allahu akbar!” (“God is Greatest!” in Arabic) at them as he entered the courtroom.