Six teenagers convicted in France over teacher’s beheading in 2020

A French court has convicted six teenagers in connection with the 2020 beheading of history teacher Samuel Paty, whose murder shocked the country.

Paty was killed outside his school in 2020 after showing his class cartoons of the prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. The attacker, a young Chechen who had been radicalised, was killed by police.

The court on Friday found five of the defendants, who were 14 and 15 at the time of the attack, guilty of staking out the teacher and identifying him to the attacker. Another defendant, 13 at the time, was found guilty of lying about the classroom debate in a comment that aggravated online anger against the teacher.

The teenagers — all students at Paty’s school — testified that they didn’t know the teacher would be killed. All were handed brief or suspended prison terms, and required to stay in school or jobs during the duration of their suspended terms with regular medical checkups.

They left the courtroom without speaking. Some had their heads down as they listened to the verdicts. One appeared to wipe tears.

Paty’s name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on freedom of expression during which he showed caricatures of the prophet that had been published by Charlie Hebdo, which had triggered a deadly extremist massacre in the satirical newspaper’s newsroom in 2015.

Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on 16 October 2020, near his school in a Paris suburb by Abdoullakh Anzorov. The five who identified Paty to the attacker were convicted of involvement in a group preparing aggravated violence.

The sixth defendant wrongly claimed that Paty had asked Muslim students to raise their hands and leave the classroom before he showed the class the prophet cartoons. She was not in the classroom that day, and later told investigators she had lied. She was convicted of making false allegations.

Her father shared the lie in an online video that called for mobilisation against the teacher. He and a radical Islamic activist who helped disseminate virulent messages against Paty are among eight adults who will face a separate trial for adults suspected of involvement in the killing, expected late next year.

The trial was held behind closed doors, and the media are not allowed to disclose the defendants’ identities according to French law regarding minors.