(JTA) – A former police commissioner in France called for a probe of three officers for failing to save a Jewish woman who was killed by a Muslim man in her home while they were waiting for backup outside her Paris apartment. Sammy Ghozlan, a retired commissioner and head of the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism watchdog group, told officials and family members of the victim of the April 4 attack, Sarah Halimi, that an internal review was necessary during a visit Thursday, June 15 to Marseille. Several leaders of French Jewry criticized authorities’ handling of the investigation into the killing of Sarah Halimi by her neighbor, whom neighbors said had called her “Satan” and shouted “Allah hu akbar” – Arabic for “Allah is the greatest” – before the killing. He is suspected of having broken into the home of Halimi, a 65-year-old physician, beating her and throwing her to her death from a window of her third-story apartment.

The suspect, 27-year-old Kobili Traore, was placed under psychiatric evaluation though he has no history of mental illness. Authorities have not divulged information on his whereabouts despite repeated queries, Ghozlan told JTA. A draft indictment against Traore did not contain a mention of a hate crime in the voluntary manslaughter charge, prompting the CRIF umbrella group of French Jews to criticize the judiciary and what CRIF said was indifference by the media.

During the attack, three armed police officers arrived at the apartment before Halimi’s defenestration, but they decided against breaking into the apartment while waiting for backup, an investigation by BNVCA revealed, Ghozlan said. “The police officers’ conduct suggests they had suspected a terrorist attack in progress rather than a neighborly dispute,” Ghozlan said. “If this is the case, and there is reason to believe the attack was terrorist in nature, than this case is not being treated accordingly. It is very unusual.”

Ghozlan also said he feared that the officers may have refrained from taking action for fear of triggering violence or other forms of unrest through an altercation with a Muslim suspect, a scenario that in 2006 prompted riots across France, featuring the burning of cars and buildings.

CAP: Sarah Halimi