“They cut down one tree, we have to replant hundreds, thousands. » More than three months after an olive tree planted in honor of Ilan Halimi was cut down in the Alcobendas park, in Épinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis), François Durovray, president (LR) of the Essonne departmental council, wants to “react with violence”.
At his side, dozens of students from the Pyramides college in Évry-Courcouronnes, surrounded by the prefect of Essonne and a number of elected officials, this Monday covered with several shovels the roots of an olive tree planted in the administrative town of the prefecture, as a tribute to the young man of the Jewish faith, who died in 2006 after being kidnapped and tortured for 24 days by the Barbarian Gang.
Led by Youssouf Fofana, young men from the town of Bagneux (Hauts-de-Seine) had kidnapped this 23-year-old young man, who was allegedly rich because he was Jewish, in an apartment and then in the basement to try to get a ransom from his family.
“A stain on French history”
After three weeks of abuse, Ilan Halimi was left to die along the railway line in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (Essonne). Found dying, he died in the ambulance minutes later. At his trial in February 2009, Fofana admitted the facts and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 22 year security sentence.
“This murder is a stain on French history, and especially on the history of Essonne,” stressed François Durovray. On 11 February 2019, two memorial trees planted in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois were found to have been sawed. A year after the heinous act, one of them was replanted in the same place.
In the case of cutting down olive trees in Épinay-sur-Seine, 19-year-old twins were sentenced in October to eight months in prison and eight months in prison suspended by the Bobigny criminal court. However, the latter acquitted them of charges of violations of monuments dedicated to the memory of the dead committed because of race, ethnicity, nation or religion, considering that they had unknowingly tarnished the memory of Ilan Halimi. The decision was challenged by public prosecutor Bobigny, who appealed the decision.
“Paying tribute to Ilan Halimi is to mark our commitment to fighting anti-Semitism,” Fabienne Balussou, the prefect, reminded students, who were invited to read several excerpts from the Charter of Secularism at the ceremony. And in closing, addressed to them: “The tree will grow and develop, just like you. We count on you to talk about this tree (…) and explain why it is a symbol of hope, tolerance and peace. »
