The brutal killing of a French Teacher
- pompeuglobalanalys
- Nov 7, 2020
- 2 min read
What happened?
Samuel Paty (a history teacher) was beheaded on Friday ( 16/10/2020) outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, in the northern suburbs of Paris, by an 18-year-old Chechen man who was subsequently shot dead by police. Witnesses are said to have heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest".
About the killer:
Abdoulakh A is understood to have been an 18-year-old Chechen, born in Moscow. He had no known links to either Mr Paty or his school. He had been before courts in the past but only on minor misdemeanour charges.
Why?
Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said Mr Paty had been the target of threats since he showed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech earlier in October. Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad can cause serious offence to Muslims because Islamic tradition explicitly forbids images of Muhammad and Allah (God). As he had done in similar lessons in recent years, Mr Paty, a history and geography teacher, advised Muslim students to leave the room if they thought they might be offended.
How is the police investigation going so far?
Four schoolchildren were being held by French police on Monday on suspicion of helping the man who beheaded the history teacher to identify his victim in return for money, a judiciary source said. The other detainees include four family members of the killer, a father at the school and a known Islamist radical.Police carried out some 40 raids on the homes of suspected radicals on Monday and more raids are expected.
The reaction of French people and UE
Tens of thousands of people took part in rallies across the country on Sunday (18/10/2020) to honour Mr Paty and defend freedom of speech. Demonstrators on the Place de la Republique held posters declaring: “No to totalitarianism of thought”, and “I am a teacher”.
Members of the European Parliament held a minute of silence on Monday (19/10/2020) in a tribute to the French teacher.
“Terror is fought through education, through teaching, in which Samuel Paty believed, as he practised it,” David Sassoli (European Parliament President) said.
Sources: BBC News, Reuters, Aljazeera
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