France faces trial for beheading a teacher who showed cartoons of prophets in his class

LYON, France (AP) – Eight people will go on trial in Paris on terrorism charges Monday in connection with the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, who was killed by a Muslim activist after showing pictures of the Islamic prophet to his middle school students for a lesson on freedom. of speaking.

Paty's shocking death left a legacy in France, and many schools are now named after her. Paty was killed outside his school near Paris on October 16, 2020, by an 18-year-old Chechen Russian, who was shot dead by police.

Those on trial include friends of the attacker Abdoullakh Anzorov who is suspected of helping to buy weapons for the attack, as well as people accused of spreading false information on the Internet about the teacher and his class.

The attack came after protests in many Muslim countries and sparked online violence against France and the blasphemous French newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper had republished its images of the Prophet Muhammad in the weeks before Paty's death to mark the opening of a deadly 2015 attack on its newsroom by Islamist militants.

The cartoons angered many Muslims, who saw them as blasphemous. But the aftermath of Paty's murder reinforced the French government's commitment to freedom of expression and its strict adherence to nationalism in public life.

Much of the attention in the case will focus on Brahim Chnina, the Muslim father of a 13-year-old girl who said she was kicked out of Paty's class when she showed caricatures on Oct. 5, 2020.

Chnina sent a series of messages to her contacts criticizing Paty, saying “this sick man” needs to be fired, and the address of the school in the Paris suburb of Conflans Saint-Honorine.

In fact, Chnina's daughter had lied to her and had never attended the course in question.

Paty was teaching a course on Moral and Civic Education which was approved by the Ministry of National Education for freedom of speech. He spoke about caricatures in this context, and said that students who do not wish to see them can temporarily leave the classroom.

An online campaign against Paty exploded, and 11 days after the lesson, Anzorov attacked the teacher with a knife on his way home, revealing the teacher's head on social media. The police later shot Anzorov when he approached them armed.

Chnina will be tried for alleged collaboration with a terrorist group by identifying the 47-year-old teacher with false information.

Her daughter was tried last year in juvenile court and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Four other students at Paty's school were found guilty of involvement and given suspended sentences; the fifth, who revealed Paty to Anzorov in exchange for money, was given a 6-month term with an electronic bracelet.

Abdelhakim Sefrioui is one of the key figures in the case that opened on Monday of the old suspects. He presented himself as the spokesman for the Imams of France, although he was dismissed from that role. He filmed a video in front of the school with the student's father. He called the teacher a “criminal” several times and sought to pressure the school's management on social media.

Sefrioui founded the pro-Hamas Cheikh Yassine Collective in 2004, which was disbanded a few days after Paty's murder. Sefrioui had long criticized and threatened Muslims who advocated friendship with Jews, including the head of the Grand Mosque of Paris.

Sefrioui and Chnina face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Chnina denied any incitement to “murder” in her messages and video, saying she did not intend to incite hatred and violence, according to court documents.

Sefrioui's lawyers said they will demand his release, and the video shot by Sefrioui in front of the school was not seen by the terrorist.

Anzorov, who wanted to go to Syria to fight Islamic militants, found Paty's name on jihadist social media channels, according to investigators. Anzorov lived 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Paty's school and did not know the teacher.

Two of Anzorov's friends face life in prison if convicted on charges of complicity in the killings related to the terrorist business. Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov are accused of helping Anzorov buy a knife and a pellet gun. Boudaoud also drove Anzorov to Paty's school. They surrendered at the police station, denying that they knew about the attacker's intentions.

Four other people have been charged with the crime of conspiring to talk to the killer in pro-jihad Snapchat groups. They all deny knowing the intention of killing Samuel Paty. One of them posted smiling emojis after the severed head of the teacher.

On Oct. 13, 2023, another teacher in France was killed by a radical Islamist from Russia, who comes from Ingushetia, a region bordering Chechnya.