On Sunday the National Office for Vigilance on Antisemitism (BNVCA) called on the French Ministry for Justice to ensure that the decision is appealed, describing the verdicts as "indulgent". The group has called a protest in front of the Ministry on Monday evening.

The State prosecutor has until 20 July to respond to the request for a retrial.

The sentences handed down on Friday condemned Youssouf Fofana to life imprisonment of which a minimum of 22 years will have to be served. Fofana is the gangleader who admitted responsibility for the physical abuse of Halimi.

The criticism of the sentences however concerns the accomplices. Samir Aït Abdelmalek and Jean-Christophe Soumbou were given 15 and 18 years respectively while the prosecution had requested 20 years for each.

The girl who lured Halimi to his kidnapping was given nine years as against the ten to 12 years that the prosecutor had asked for.

On Friday the defence lawyers described the sentances as "balanced" and "exemplary" but the lawyer for the Halimi family, Francis Szpiner, criticised the prison terms and said an appeal would be lodged.

France's Representative Council for Jewish Institutions in France (Crif) has said it hopes any subsequent trials in the case will be public. The two and a half month trial was held in camera.

France's Union of Jewish students said it was "shocked" at the sentencing of the members of the gang.