Six teenagers are found guilty over roles in 2020 beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty by Islamic extremist that shocked country
Six teenagers have been found guilty of involvement in the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty, who was killed outside his school by an Islamic extremist.
A history and geography teacher was brutally stabbed and beheaded outside his school in a Paris suburb on October 16, 2020.
His attacker, 18-year-old Chechen refugee Abdullah Anzorov, was radicalized, was shot dead by police at the time, but other young men have now been convicted for their involvement in the horrific ordeal.
A French juvenile court today found five defendants, who were 14 and 15 years old at the time of the attack, guilty of tracking down the teacher and identifying him as the attacker.
Another defendant, who was 13 at the time, was found guilty of lying about a class debate in a comment that fueled online anger against the teacher.
The teenagers – all students at Mr Paty’s school – testified that they did not know the teachers would be killed.
History and geography teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded outside a school near Paris.
Pedestrians walk past a poster of French teacher Samuel Paty on November 3, 2020, following the teacher’s beheading on October 16.
This photo taken Oct. 18, 2020, shows a man holding a sign reading “I am Samuel” as people gather at the Place de la République in Paris on Oct. 18, 2020, to pay respects to the history teacher.
All were given short or suspended prison sentences and were required to continue studying or working during the suspended period and undergo regular medical examinations.
The young people left the courtroom without saying a word. Some lowered their heads as they listened to the verdicts, and one appeared to be wiping away tears.
The attack occurred after the teacher showed the class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, and his name was circulated on social media.
Previously, the cartoon provoked the deadly massacre of extremists at the Charlie Hotel. Hebdo newsroom in 2015, which killed 17 people, including 11 journalists.
Five were found guilty of being part of a group that plotted aggravated violence after they allegedly identified the teacher to the attacker.
The sixth accused wrongly claimed that Mr Paty asked Muslim students to raise their hands and leave the class before he showed the class cartoons of the prophet.
She was not in class that day and later told investigators that she had lied. She was found guilty of false charges.
Paty is shown in this undated image.
FILE: Hundreds of people gather on the Place de la République during a demonstration Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, in Paris in support of freedom of speech and in honor of a French history teacher who was beheaded near Paris.
Flowers and signs reading “I am Samuel Paty” are displayed at a makeshift memorial during a march (marche blanche) in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris, in honor of French teacher Samuel Paty.
Her father shared the lies in an online video calling for mobilization against the teacher.
He and a radical Islamic activist who helped spread violent messages against Mr Paty are among eight adults facing a separate adult trial suspected of involvement in the murder, expected late next year.
The trial took place behind closed doors, and under French juvenile law the media are not allowed to reveal the identities of the accused.
The court’s decision comes just weeks after another French teacher was fatally shot and three others were injured at a school in the north of the country. former student suspected of Islamic radicalization.
The killing comes as global tensions continue to rise over the war between Israel and Hamas and has prompted French authorities to deploy an additional 7,000 troops across the country to increase security and vigilance.