Four years after the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty by a young Islamist, a trial against the suspects began in Paris on Monday. One of the main defendants is Brahim C., the father of a then 13-year-old student who started the fatal smear campaign against Paty with a lie.
47-year-old history teacher Paty had shown cartoons of Mohammed during a lesson on freedom of expression at a secondary school in a wealthy suburb of Paris. 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.
Father started a smear campaign against teachers
Brahim C.’s daughter, who did not show up for class that day, later told her father that the teacher had deliberately sent Muslim students out of class to show the others humiliating images of Mohammed. The defendant distributed this version together with others on online services and the smear campaign began.
Brahim C., who has been in custody for four years, is accused of participating in a terrorist organization. If convicted, he faces 30 years in prison. His daughter and other minors had already been sentenced to a suspended sentence in 2023.
The 18-year-old Islamist beheads Paty with a knife
Paty had told his colleagues at the time that he felt “threatened by local Islamists” and asked for a ride after school several times – even though he had always walked. On October 16, 2020, there was no one to take him in the car; it was the last day of school before the holidays.
The perpetrator who ambushed him after school and killed him with a knife was an 18-year-old Islamist who had been radicalized a few months earlier. He did not know the teacher and paid younger students money to let him see the teacher. Abdulakh Anzorov, from Chechnya, was shot dead by police. In an audio recording, he boasted that he had “avenged the Prophet.”
Friends of the perpetrator in court
The defendants also include two of his friends who accompanied him when he bought a knife in Rouen the day before the crime. You are accused of complicity in a murder motivated by terrorists. You risk life imprisonment.
“The tragic dynamics that led to the murder of Samuel Paty illustrate the extent of Islamist influence in France and its intersection with terrorism,” lawyers for one of Samuel Paty’s sisters said at the start of the trial.
The case caused a shock wave in France. Paty’s school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris, is now named after the murdered teacher.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
