LYON, France (AP) — Eight folks will go on trial Monday in Paris on terrorism costs beheading of teacher Samuel Patykilled by an Islamic extremist after displaying caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his center college college students for a lesson on freedom of expression.
Paty’s surprising loss of life has left an imprint on France and several other colleges now bear his title. Paty was killed outdoors his college close to Paris on October 16, 2020 by a Russian of Chechen origin, 18 years oldwho was shot useless by the police.
Those on trial embrace pals of attacker Abdoullakh Anzorov who allegedly helped purchase weapons for the assault, in addition to folks accused of spreading false details about the instructor and his class on-line.
The assault occurred within the context of protests in many Muslim countries and incites on-line violence in opposition to France and the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper had republished the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad a number of weeks earlier than Paty’s loss of life to rejoice the opening of the trial in opposition to deadly 2015 attacks on its newsroom by Islamic extremists.
The cartoon photographs deeply offended many Muslims, who thought of them sacrilegious. But the implications of Paty’s homicide have strengthened the French state’s dedication to freedom of expression and its agency attachment to freedom secularism in public life.
Much consideration on the trial will deal with Brahim Chnina, the Muslim father of a 13-year-old lady who stated she was excluded from Paty’s class when she confirmed the caricatures on October 5, 2020.
Chnina despatched a sequence of messages to her contacts denouncing Paty, saying “this sick man” wanted to be fired, together with the college’s deal with within the Paris suburb of Conflans Saint-Honorine.
In actuality, Chnina’s daughter had lied to him and had by no means attended the lesson in query.
Paty was giving an ethical and civic training lesson on freedom of expression, commissioned by the Ministry of National Education. He mentioned the caricatures on this context, saying that college students who didn’t wish to see them may briefly go away the classroom.
An on-line marketing campaign in opposition to Paty snowballed and, 11 days after the lesson, Anzorov attacked the instructor with a knife as he walked residence and displayed the instructor’s head on social media. Police subsequently shot Anzorov as he superior in direction of them armed.
Chnina shall be tried for alleged affiliation with a terrorist enterprise for focusing on the 47-year-old instructor via false info.
His daughter was tried it last year in a juvenile court docket and sentenced to 18 months suspended sentence. Four different college students from Paty’s college have been discovered responsible of involvement and given suspended sentences; a fifth, who had indicated Paty to Anzorov in trade for cash, was sentenced to six months with an digital bracelet.
Abdelhakim Sefrioui is one other key determine within the trial that opens Monday for the grownup suspects. He offered himself as spokesman for the Imams of France, though he had been dismissed from that position. He shot a video in entrance of the college with the scholar’s father. He repeatedly referred to the instructor as a “thug” and tried to stress the college administration through social media.
Sefrioui based the pro-Hamas Cheikh Yassine collective in 2004, which was disbanded a number of days after Paty’s killing. Sefrioui had lengthy criticized and threatened Muslims who advocate friendship with Jews, together with the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris.
Sefrioui and Chnina face 30 years in jail if convicted.
Chnina denied any incitement to homicide in his messages and movies, arguing that he didn’t intend to incite hatred and violence, based on court docket paperwork.
Sefrioui’s legal professionals stated they are going to search his acquittal and that the video Sefrioui shot in entrance of the college was not seen by the terrorist.
According to investigators, Anzorov, who needed to go to Syria to combat Islamic extremists, found Paty’s title on jihadist social media channels. Anzorov lived 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Paty’s college and didn’t know the instructor.
Two of Anzorov’s pals face life in jail if convicted of complicity to homicide in reference to a terrorist enterprise. Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov are accused of serving to Anzorov buy a knife and a pellet gun. Boudaoud additionally accompanied Anzorov to Paty’s college. They turned themselves in on the police station and deny having any data of the attacker’s intentions.
The different 4 people are charged with terrorist conspiracy for speaking with the shooter on pro-jihad Snapchat teams. All deny having data of the intent to kill Samuel Paty. One of them despatched smiling emojis after the decapitated instructor’s head was shared.
On October 13, 2023, one other teacher in France was killed by a Russian radical Islamist, initially from Ingushetia, a area on the border with Chechnya.
