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It started with a lie from a student (13), a smear campaign followed on online services, and ten days later – on October 16, 2020 – French teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded near his school by a jihadist (18). The girl and five students who were 14 or 15 years old at the time and who helped the attacker locate the teacher have been before the juvenile court in Paris since Monday. You face a prison sentence of 2.5 years.
Some defendants appeared with hoods, sunglasses or medical masks over their faces, accompanied by their parents or lawyers. The teacher’s parents and several former colleagues also came to the start of the trial. “We want to understand what happened,” said one teacher. Paty’s murder is still very much alive. “We no longer teach like we used to,” said a teacher, visibly moved.
Due to the age of the suspects, the trial will take place behind closed doors. Several teachers and the Ministry of Education want to be recognized as co-plaintiffs. The negotiations are expected to last until December 8. A new trial is scheduled for the end of 2024 against eight adult suspects who are alleged to have been involved in the smear campaign.
Five young people showed him Paty
“Hey little one, come here, I have something for you” – these were the words with which the then 18-year-old Abdulach Anzorow allegedly addressed one of the students. He offered him 300 euros to show him Samuel Paty. Anzorov told him he wanted to “film the teacher apologizing.”
The student accepted the offer, but called in four more because he didn’t want to do it alone. The young people tearfully testified to investigators that they never expected their client to want to kill the teacher. You are charged with criminal organization in preparation for a serious act of violence and, if convicted, you face a prison sentence of two and a half years.
“He is consumed by his guilty conscience,” one lawyer said of his young client. “He is very scared of meeting Paty’s relatives for the first time,” he added. The defense is expected to use the young age of the suspects to acquit them.
Paty showed cartoons of Mohammed
47-year-old Paty showed controversial cartoons of Mohammed during a lesson on freedom of expression. He had previously given his students the freedom to leave the room if they did not want to see them. This precaution was his downfall.
The now accused student – who did not show up to class that day – told her father that the teacher had specifically sent Muslim students out of class to show the others degrading images of Mohammed. Her father, who was also accused, spread this version on online services and the smear campaign began. The student is accused of defamation and, if convicted, also faces a prison sentence of two and a half years.
Anzorov, originally from Chechnya, came to France from Russia with his family at the age of five. He had a residence permit at the time of the crime and had already been radicalized for several months. He didn’t know the teacher. He ambushed him in front of the school and killed him with knife wounds. In an audio message he boasts that he has “avenged the Prophet (Muhammad).”
Teacher was worried
“Even if Abdulakh Anzorov acted alone, the crime is the result of a series of criminal actions,” the indictment said. Before the crime, Paty was “very concerned” about “the scale and aggressiveness of the polemic.”
Almost exactly three years after Paty’s murder, another deadly attack by a young jihadist on a teacher shocked the country. 20-year-old Mohammed M., also from Russia, who confessed to having committed jihadism, stabbed history teacher Dominique Bernard in Arras. He was arrested and told through his lawyer that he wanted to speak out during the trial. (AFP)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
