In 2020, a teacher was stabbed and beheaded outside his school in Paris following an online hate campaign.
A French court has sentenced eight people to prison for their role in the murder of a teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed during a class debate on freedom of expression.
The Paris special court sentenced the defendants to prison terms of between one and 16 years decapitation of 47-year-old Samuel Paty in front of his school in Paris in 2020 by an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin who was shot dead by the police at the scene.
The 540-seat courtroom was packed to capacity Friday for the sentencing, where a seven-judge panel met or exceeded most of the conditions sought by prosecutors, citing “the extraordinary gravity of the facts of the case.”
Naim Boudaoud, 22, and Azim Epsirkhanov, 23, were convicted of complicity in the murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison each. Boudaoud was accused of driving attacker Abdoullakh Anzorov to school while Epsirkhanov helped him obtain weapons.
Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a 65-year-old Muslim preacher, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for organizing an online hate campaign against Paty and calling Paty a “thug” in a video. According to French media, his lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
Brahim Chnina, 52, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for association with a “terrorist enterprise.” He had posted videos falsely accusing Paty of disciplining his daughter for complaining about the class, naming the teacher and naming his school.
The other four defendants, part of a network of Anzorov’s sympathizers who spread inflammatory content online, were also convicted.
“No one says they wanted Samuel Paty to die,” prosecutor Nicholas Braconnay had told the court. “But as they lit thousands of fuses online, they knew one of them would lead to… violence against the blasphemous teacher.”
“Moved and relieved”
The verdict marks the final chapter of the Paty trial.
Last year, a court found Chnina’s daughter and five other teenagers guilty of participating in a premeditated conspiracy and helping to prepare an ambush.
Gaelle Paty, the sister of the murdered teacher, said she was “moved” and “relieved”. “Hearing the word ‘guilty’ – that’s what I needed,” she told reporters outside the court.
“I’ve spent this week hearing a lot about what happened and it was hard to understand, but now the judge has explained what really happened and it feels good,” she added, her voice broke as tears welled up in her eyes.
The defendants’ families responded with gasps, screams, shouts and ironic clapping, causing the judge to pause and call for silence several times.
“You lied about my brother,” a relative shouted. Another woman sobbed and shouted, “They took my baby,” before she was escorted from the courtroom by police officers.
