Ilan Halimi

Ilan Halimi (Hebrew: אילן חלימי‎) was a young French Jewish man of Moroccan descent 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 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. A garden in the Jerusalem Forest was named after him.

Aftermath

Paris demonstration in honor of Ilan Halimi and against anti-Semitism In 2006.

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Paris, demanding justice for Halimi, on Sunday February 26, 2006.

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.