Man gets 25-years' jail for burning girl alive in France

[SonOfBeastSucks]

Man gets 25-years' jail for burning girl alive in France

AFP

 

April 10, 2006

 

CRETEIL, France -- A young man who doused a 17-year-old girl in lighter fuel and burned her to death received a 25-year jail sentence from a French court on Saturday.

 

Jamal Derrar, 22, was found guilty of torture leading to the unintended death of Sohane Benziane, a Frenchwoman of Algerian origin whom he set on fire and left to die in the basement of a run-down housing estate in Vitry-sur-Seine near Paris, in October 2002.

 

His friend and co-defendant Tony Rocca, 23, received an eight-year jail term for being an accessory. He denied holding shut the door to the area where Derrar sprayed Sohane with lighter fluid.

 

The family's lawyer Francis Szpiner said the family was satisfied with the verdict, but leaving the court the victim's father said: "They would have done better to kill him on the spot."

 

"The court considered that it was a case of extremely grave acts. We cannot therefore talk of an accident nor the trivialisation of these acts," Szpiner said.

 

Derrar's lawyer did not rule out an appeal.

 

State prosecutor Jean-Paul Content argued at the end of the six-day case that Derrar had premeditated what he called "an act of boundless cruelty", but had intended only to scare the young woman, not to kill her.

 

According to the prosecutor, Derrar had focused his anger on Sohane after getting into a fight with her boyfriend. Witnesses said he had tried to ban her from the estate and ambushed her to teach her a lesson after she defied him, the prosecutor said.

 

Sohane's murder deeply shocked the country and her name became synonymous with the fight to improve women's rights, particularly to combat violence against women of immigrant background in the country's poor suburbs.

 

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060410-020211-1719r

[Token Yankee Guy]

Interesting, we had the same thing happen here in Bangor, Maine just recently. Someone set a homeless guy on fire along the Kenduskeag Stream that goes right through downtown Bangor. The killer hasn't been found yet, but when he is found, I wonder if he'll get a similar sentence.

[pvcoasterguy]

Only 25 years? That's it? That is a terrible crime... I feel that far more should have been sentenced.

[Carnage]

^ It would depened on the legal system I would assume.

 

For instance in Canada first degree murder has a max 25 year sentence. Full life sentances are only given to someone labeled a dangerous offender. And that title is only given to the big serial murderers,rapists,etc.

[Homer]

Well, thats France for you, no life sentences...

 

-Carl "Believes that if you kill somebody, then your life should go with theirs" F.

[Luxo]

Reminds me of my favorite soap...

 

But seriously, that's terrible!

[sfmmFREAK]

someone that emotionally numb to do that to someone should rot in prison for the rest of their life.

[speedracer]

^ Even that is too good for him. I say douse him with lighter fluid and light the SOB on fire. Then stand around and do nothing like he did and watch while he screams and burns to his death since he thinks something so horribly cruel and inhumane is so much fun

[DATman]

Well, thats France for you, no life sentences...

 

-Carl "Believes that if you kill somebody, then your life should go with theirs" F.

 

And that's stereotypical. Like saying "America's full of stupid people, I mean look at Bush..."

[Deadromanticx]

I'm still uncertain how I feel about the EU's policy of NO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Cases like this make me question whether it's really necessary.

[Red]

^If we were to kill them off, we'd be just as bad as they are. Although I'm against capital punishments, I believe the two people that were involved with this should've gotten the harshest punishment available, whatever that may be (I'm not familiar with that country's law).

[lapseofreason]

Stuff like that is just wrong. I mean, lighting people on fire...wow.