Overview
- The Rhône assize court sentenced the 55-year-old to 18 years for murdering René Hadjadj, 89, by throwing him from a 17th-floor balcony in Lyon in 2022.
- Jurors did not apply the hate-crime enhancement tied to religion, after debates over contemporaneous acts that included his cutting a Hebrew text and ID photos but leaving a Torah and other items untouched.
- The avocate générale had requested the maximum 20 years permitted under attenuated responsibility and asked for 10 years of socio-judicial follow-up.
- She told jurors she did not personally retain an antisemitic motive and said older tweets from 2020 were too remote to prove the legal aggravation.
- Court psychiatrists reported psychosis and a severe personality disorder, and the defendant admitted the killing while denying antisemitism.