The case concerns the murder of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Jewish woman and Holocaust survivor, who was killed in her apartment in Paris on 23 March 2018. Two men, Yacine Mihoub and Alex Carrimbacus, were charged in connection with the crime. The prosecution alleged that Mihoub, who had known the victim since childhood, attacked her with multiple stab wounds before setting fire to the apartment in an apparent attempt to conceal the crime. The act was prosecuted as an aggravated homicide with an antisemitic motive. On 10 November 2021, the Paris Assize Court (Cour d’assises de Paris) found Mihoub guilty of murder with aggravating circumstances, including the victim’s particular vulnerability and the antisemitic nature of the offense. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years.

On April 4, 2017, police intervened at a residence in Paris following reports of a family being held captive. Upon entering, they interpellated the defendant, who was reciting verses from the Quran. Simultaneously, the body of Sarah Halimi was discovered; she had fallen from the balcony of an adjacent apartment. The investigation was opened for voluntary homicide and kidnapping. A subsequent charge noted that the acts were committed because of the victim's religion (antisemitism). Following an investigation and multiple psychiatric evaluations, the instruction judges—and later the Paris Court of Appeal—declared the defendant criminally irresponsible due to a mental disorder. The court found no contradiction in the lower court's ruling: one can recognize an antisemitic motive (the "trigger" of the violence) while still concluding that the perpetrator's mental state rendered him legally irresponsible for his actions. The defendant was not criminally liable for the murder.

l'article 122-1, alinéa 1er, du code pénal

In January 2006, Ilan Halimi, a young French Jew, was lured into a trap by a woman acting on behalf of a criminal group later known as the “Gang des barbares,” led by Youssouf Fofana. Halimi was kidnapped, held captive for approximately three weeks, and subjected to severe torture and inhumane treatment. The perpetrators demanded a ransom from his family, motivated by the belief that Jewish families are wealthy. Halimi ultimately died from his injuries shortly after being found. The Paris Juvenile Assize Court convicted the principal offender, Youssouf Fofana, of kidnapping accompanied by acts of torture and barbarity leading to death. The court recognized the antisemitic nature of the crime, particularly the targeting of the victim based on his Jewish identity.