LYON, France (AP) — Eight people will go on trial Monday in Paris on terrorism charges over the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, who was killed by an Islamic extremist after showing caricatures of the Islamic prophet to his high school students for a lesson on freedom of expression.
Paty's shocking death left a mark on France and several schools are now named after him. Paty was murdered outside his school near Paris on October 16, 2020, by an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen descent, who was shot dead by police.
The suspects include friends of attacker Abdoullakh Anzorov who allegedly helped purchase weapons for the attack, as well as people accused of spreading false information online about the teacher and his class.
The attack came against the backdrop of protests in many Muslim countries and online calls for violence against France and the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper had republished its caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed a few weeks before Paty's death to mark the opening of the trial into the deadly 2015 attacks on the newsroom by Islamic extremists.
The cartoon images deeply offended many Muslims, who considered them sacrilege. But the fallout from Paty's murder reinforced the French state's commitment to freedom of expression and its strong commitment to secularism in public life.
Much of the focus at the trial will be on Brahim Chnina, the Muslim father of a 13-year-old girl who claimed she was excluded from Paty's class when he showed the caricatures on October 5, 2020.
Chnina sent a series of messages to his contacts denouncing Paty and saying “this sick man” should be fired, along with the address of the school in the Parisian suburb of Conflans Saint-Honorine.
In reality, Chnina's daughter had lied to him and never attended the class in question.
Paty gave a moral and civil education class, commissioned by the National Ministry of Education, on freedom of expression. He discussed the caricatures in this context and said that students who did not want to see them could temporarily leave the classroom.
An online campaign against Paty snowballed and eleven days after the lesson, Anzorov attacked the teacher with a knife while walking home, showing the teacher's head on social media. Police later shot Anzorov as he approached them armed.
Chnina will be tried for alleged links to a terrorist company that targeted the 47-year-old teacher using false information.
His daughter was tried by the juvenile court last year and received an eighteen-month suspended sentence. Four other students at Paty's school were found guilty of involvement and given suspended sentences; a fifth, who referred Paty to Anzorov in exchange for money, received a six-month term with an electronic bracelet.
Abdelhakim Sefrioui is another key figure in the trial that starts on Monday for the adult suspects. He presented himself as spokesman for the imams of France, although he had been dismissed from that role. He filmed a video for the school with the student's father. He called the teacher a “thug” several times and tried to put pressure on the school board via social media.
Sefrioui founded the pro-Hamas Cheikh Yassine Collective in 2004, which was disbanded a few days after Paty's murder. Sefrioui had long criticized and threatened Muslims who advocate friendship with Jews, including the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris.
Sefrioui and Chnina face 30 years in prison if convicted.
Chnina denied any incitement to “kill” in his messages and video and claimed he had no intention of inciting hatred and violence, court documents show.
Sefrioui's lawyers have said they will demand his acquittal, and that the video Sefrioui filmed in front of the school was not seen by the terrorist.
Anzorov, who wanted to go to Syria to fight Islamic extremists there, discovered Paty's name on jihadist social media channels, according to investigators. Anzorov lived 100 kilometers from Paty's school and did not know the teacher.
Two friends of Anzorov face life in prison if convicted on charges of accessory to murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise. Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov are accused of helping Anzorov buy a knife and a pellet gun. Boudaoud also drove Anzorov to Paty's school. They turned themselves in at the police station and denied knowledge of the attacker's intentions.
The other four individuals are charged with criminal terrorist conspiracy for communicating with the killer through pro-jihad Snapchat groups. They all deny knowledge of the intention to kill Samuel Paty. One of them sent laughing emojis after the head of the decapitated teacher was shared.
On October 13, 2023, another teacher was murdered in France by a radical Islamist from Russia, originally from Ingushetia, a region bordering Chechnya.
