Borrell: Israel’s allocation of funds to build new settlements has nothing to do with self-defense

The first trial in the case of the assassination of teacher Samuel Paty by an extremist in 2020 began in Paris today, Monday, with six students appearing in closed sessions before the juvenile court.

A second trial will be held before the Special Criminal Court in Paris at the end of 2024, in which eight adults will appear.

The six students arrived at the court, hiding their faces with their coats and entering the hall, according to Agence France-Presse.

The attack, which occurred against the backdrop of a high terrorist threat, caused enormous shock in France and abroad.

On October 16, 2020, the Russian refugee of Chechen origin, Abdullahi Anzorov, stabbed the 47-year-old history and geography teacher when the attack occurred, and then beheaded him near the school where he was teaching in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in the Paris region.

When the 18-year-old attacker carried out the attack, he accused Paty of having shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of expression. The perpetrator expressed in a voice message in Russian that he was glad that he had “avenged the Prophet.”

The shock of this crime came back to mind in mid-October when university professor Dominique Bernard was assassinated in Arras, northern France, by a young extremist.

The trial of five boys, who were 14 and 15 years old when the attack occurred, began on Monday, on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated acts of violence. They are accused of monitoring the school’s surroundings and directing the attacker to Patty in exchange for a reward.

Also, a sixth girl, who was 13 years old when the events occurred, is being tried on charges of slander for asserting that Paty asked the Muslim students to announce themselves and leave the class before he showed the drawings, while she was not present during the class.

This lie was behind a violent campaign on social media fueled by her father, Ibrahim Chenina, and the Islamic activist Abdel Hakim Sefrioui, who prepared video clips that drew attention to the professor.

The two men will appear in the second trial at the end of 2024, along with six other adults.

Samuel Paty’s family is awaiting this first trial because it is “essential,” because “the role of minors is essential in the sequence of events that led to the teacher’s assassination,” as his family’s lawyer, Virginie Le Roy, said.

The investigation revealed how the trap was set on Patty within ten days, starting from the student’s lie to the attacks on social media until the attacker arrived in front of the school on October 16.

Abdullahi Anzorov told one of the boys: “I have something to offer you,” and offered him 300 euros to point out Paty, explaining that he wanted to “film him apologizing.”

Testimonies contained in the decisions of the investigating judges, which were reviewed by Agence France-Presse, stated that the student conveyed the proposal “braggingly” to his friends, as he “did not feel that he was able to do it alone,” so four other students joined him.

Some of the students moved between the school and Anzorov’s “hideout” and monitored the place, and they also photographed themselves carrying securities.

The assailant asked one of them to call the girl who told the lie, and she confirmed it again without knowing that Anzorov was listening to her, as she later reported.

In hearings during which they broke down in tears, the students swore that they thought the teacher would at most “be exposed on social media” or perhaps “humiliated,” or “beaten,” but they “never” imagined that the matter would reach “the point of death.”

As they left the class, the students pointed to the attacker, Samuel Paty, saying: “Here he is.” He killed him shortly before 17:00.

Francis Spinner, the lawyer for Patty’s former partner and their son, said that his client “will send a letter to the president of the court,” but she will not attend the session.

The trial is expected to continue until December 8th.

The boys, who are today high school students, face two and a half years in prison. Dylan Salama, the lawyer of one of them, said: “This boy will remain involved in this case for the rest of his life.”

About ten of Samuel Paty’s fellow teachers intend to claim civil rights when the trial opens, “in support” of their colleague’s family, according to what their lawyer, Antoine Cassopoulou Ferro, said.

Mikael Paty, another sister of the teacher, saw this as “a late measure… that I do not understand at all,” considering that “their support for their colleague was not clear at all,” according to what her lawyer, Louis Caillet, said.