France: Six teenagers convicted in teacher murder trial
December 8, 2023
A French juvenile court convicted six teenagers on Friday over the 2020 killing of teacher Samuel Paty.
An extremist beheaded him after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class for a debate on freedom of expression.
The court found five of the defendants — who were mostly between 14 and 15 at the time — guilty of staking out the teacher and identifying him to the attacker.
They were charged with criminal conspiracy with the aim of preparing aggravated violence.
Another defendant, a 13-year-old girl, was accused of lying about the classroom debate and was found guilty of having made false accusation charges and slanderous comments.
She apparently told her parents that Paty had asked Muslim pupils to leave the room before showing the caricatures.
Cartoons of Prophet Muhammad incited anger
Paty was killed on October 16, 2020, by Abdoullakh Anzorov, a radicalized 18-year-old of Chechen origin. The killing was classified as an act of Islamist terrorism.
The teacher had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to his class during a debate on freedom of expression.
The teacher's name was later shared on social media. He was later killed outside his Paris suburb school by Anzorov, who was subsequently shot dead by police.
The teens allegedly helped Anzorov by identifying Paty when he left school in exchange for promises of €300-350 ($320-$375).
They said that they did not know the attacker intended to kill Paty.
The trial has been taking place behind closed doors, and French media have been barred from revealing the identities of the accused in line with laws protecting minors.
Eight adults are also facing a separate trial — expected to start late next year — on charges that they aided in Paty's killing.
lo,ab/sms (AP, dpa, Reuters)