Eight people have been convicted in France for acts that led to the beheading of teachers
A French court has sentenced seven men and a woman to prison for their roles in a hate campaign that led to the murder of teacher Samuel Paty in a Paris suburb in October 2020.
The penalties imposed range from three to 16 years.
The attack came after social media posts falsely claimed that Paty had shown obscene images of the Prophet Mohammed to his students during a lesson on free speech.
Chechnya-born radicalized Muslim Abdoullakh Anzorov murdered Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, at a secondary school in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Saint-Honorine.
Anzorov was shot dead at the scene by police a few minutes after the 47-year-old was killed.
It was fueled by claims circulating online that Paty had ordered Muslims to leave a class of 13-year-olds a few days earlier before showing them pictures of the Prophet Mohammed.
In fact, Paty had been teaching a lesson on freedom of expression and before showing one of the controversial images first published by Charlie Hebdo magazine, he advised students to look away if they feared being offended.
In the absence of the murderer, this trial involved people who supported him morally or materially.
Over seven weeks, the court heard how a 13-year-old student’s lie spiraled out of control thanks to social media.
Brahim Chnina, the student’s father, was among those sentenced on Friday.
Chnina launched an online campaign against the teacher and enlisted the help of radical Islamic activist Abdelhakim Sefrioui, who has also since been convicted.
Two of the killer’s friends who were present at the gun purchase were also found guilty, as were four people with whom he exchanged messages on a radical chatline.
The defense had argued that none of the eight had any idea of Anzorov’s intentions and that their words and actions only became criminal when he carried out his act.
However, the judge ruled that lack of prior knowledge was not a defense because their actions had the effect of incitement.
