Six teens accused in teacher’s murder involving slander and complicity.
Six French teenagers face trial today for their alleged involvement in the murder of teacher Samuel Paty, occurring in 2020 when they were aged between 13 and 15. Paty was killed by a Chechen refugee, reportedly due to showing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in a lesson on freedom of expression. The suspects are accused of guiding the killer to the teacher and slander. If convicted, they could receive a maximum sentence of 2.5 years in prison.
Samuel Paty was fatally stabbed and beheaded on October 16, 2020. The youngest suspect, aged 13 at the time, was suspended from school nine days before the incident, unrelated to the case, but allegedly spread falsehoods about Paty’s actions, leading to social media outrage calling for his dismissal.
It’s believed that these social media videos incited the 18-year-old Chechen to travel from Normandy to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris, to carry out the murder. Prosecutors assert that five other suspects aided the killer in identifying Paty for a payment of €300, intending to film the teacher apologizing for the cartoons.
Additionally, a second trial next year will involve eight adults, including Brahim Chnina, the father of the 13-year-old on trial, accused of complicity in the murder. Two friends of the main suspect face severe charges, with one accused of purchasing weapons and the other of driving the attacker to Paty’s school, marking a serious turn in the case as “complicity in a terrorist murder.”
