Trial begins in France over murder of teacher who showed Prophet Mohammad caricature
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Eight people have gone on trial in Paris over their alleged roles in the 2020 beheading of a French teacher who reportedly showed pupils caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.
Days after Samuel Paty, 47, showed his pupils the caricatures, Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old assailant of Chechen origin stabbed him repeatedly and beheaded him outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine near Paris. Anzorov was shot by police in the minutes after his attack.
The incident happened after a father, Brahim Chnina, published a series of videos on social media, wrongly accusing Paty of disciplining his daughter for complaining about the class, giving Paty's name and identifying the school.
Prosecutors accuse Chnina of collaborating with Abdelhakim Sefrioui, who founded a hardline Islamist organisation, to incite hatred towards the teacher.
People gather together and place flowers in front of the middle-school where murdered school teacher Samuel Paty taught on October 18, 2020
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This court sketch made and published on November 4, 2024, shows (L-R) defendants Abdelhakim Sefrioui, Louqmane Ingar, Azim Epsirkhanov, Priscilla Mangel and Yusuf Cinar sitting during the trial
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Thibault de Montbrial, a lawyer for Samuel Paty's sister Mickaelle Paty, told reporters: "They put a target on the teacher's back. Their public allegations... the videos they made attacking this teacher... all this spiral led directly to the atrocious decapitation of Samuel Paty.
"It will be interesting to see, how after having set up a whole chain of events from the letter A to the letter Y they will say that they are not responsible for the letter Z."
Both men are charged with association with a terrorist organisation. Chnina's lawyer declined to comment ahead of the start of the trial. Sefrioui's lawyer, Ouadie Elhamamouchi, has said there is no proof of contact between Sefrioui and the Chechen killer, who was shot dead by police.
Elhamamouchi told reporters that Sefrioui would show the court "that he has absolutely no connection whatsoever with this heinous attack, which he has condemned from day one."
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Members of the public stand in front of a photograph depicting French history and geography teacher Samuel Paty
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Among the six others on trial in Paris alongside Chnina and Sefrioui are two associates of Paty's killer, Abdullakh Anzorov.
Prosecutors allege they knew of Anzorov's plans to slay Paty and helped him buy weapons. Both are charged with complicity in a terrorist killing, and French media say they have both denied wrongdoing.
Last year, a court found Chnina's daughter and five other adolescents guilty of charges related to taking part in a pre-meditated criminal conspiracy and helping to prepare an ambush.
Chnina's daughter was actually not in Paty's class when the caricatures were shown and the court found her guilty of making false accusations and slanderous comments.
Ouadie Elhamamouchi is one of the lawyers of preacher Abdelhakim Sefrioui
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Pedestrians pass by a poster depicting French teacher Samuel Paty placed in the city center of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
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French media said the 13-year-old made the allegations against Paty when her parents asked her why she had been suspended from school for two days.
Teachers from Paty's school will follow the trial closely, said Antoine Casubolo Ferro, a lawyer for 14 of his colleagues.
Casubolo Ferro told reporters: "They expect the (French) republic, justice, to say: 'stop, don't mess with teachers ... don't mess with freedom of expression'".
The latest trial is due to run until December.
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