Six French teenagers on trial over teacher Samuel Paty's murder and beheading

27 November 2023 , 14:47

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Teacher Samuel Paty was killed in 2020 by an extremist (Image: Copyright unknown)

Six teenagers in France are set to go on trial for their part in the beheading of a teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson on freedom of expression.

History teacher Samuel Paty was killed in October 2020 near his school in Paris by by Abdoullakh Anzorov, 18, who had been radicalised. The attacker was in turn shot dead by police.

The teacher's name had been shared on social media following the class in which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015, to the class on freedom of expression.

Furious crowds gathering in Paris in October 2020, two days after the brutal death (AFP via Getty Images)

Among the six teenagers set to stand trial behind closed doors is a girl who was 13 at the time and accused of making false allegations for wrongly saying Paty had asked Muslim students to raise their hands and leave the classroom before he showed the cartoons. She later told investigators she had lied and was not in the classroom that day.

Five other students at Paty's school - then aged 14 and 15 - are facing charges of criminal conspiracy with the aim of preparing aggravated violence to be committed. They are accused of having waited for Paty for several hours until he left the school and of having identified him to the killer in exchange for promises of payments of 300-350 euros ($348-$406).

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An investigation showed the attacker knew the name of the teacher and the address of his school, but he did not have the means to identify him. Eight adults will face a different trial next year at a special criminal court in the case, including the girl’s father, who is accused of having posted videos on social media that called for mobilisation against the teacher

The defendants arrived this morning at the Paris court, accompanied by their families, with their faces hidden behind masks and hoods. The media are not allowed to disclose their identity but all six teenagers are facing two and a half years 1/2-year in prison. The trial is scheduled to end on December 8.

Louis Cailliez, the lawyer for Paty's sister, Mickaelle, said she wants "to understand the real causes" that led the students to commit something irreparable. He pointed to the "fatal combination of little acts of cowardice, big lies, calumnies, arrangements, complicity and help without which Samuel Paty would still be alive."

"Without the denunciation, there would be no visibility (on the social media), without visibility, there would be no crime.” The trial continues.

Antony Clements-Thrower