In a significant legal development reported by Libération on Friday, a man involved in a 2014 antisemitic attack in Créteil, France, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The Val-de-Marne Assize Court upheld the antisemitic nature of the crime, marking a pivotal moment in this high-profile case.
The convicted, Houssame H., along with two accomplices, had broken into the apartment of a Jewish couple, Jonathan B. and Laurine C.
During the heinous attack, the perpetrators tied up the couple, ransacked their home for cash under the stereotype that "Jews don’t put money in the bank," and subjected the young woman to rape.
Widespread outrage in France
This case caused widespread outrage in France, highlighting issues of antisemitism and violence. While Houssame H. was acquitted of complicity in rape, he had previously been sentenced in absentia to 16 years of imprisonment before being arrested in Algeria in 2020 and retried.
The two other attackers in this case were previously sentenced in 2018 to 8 and 13 years in prison. This latest sentence closes a long-standing legal chapter, bringing some measure of justice to the victims of this harrowing incident.