Eight individuals stand trial in Paris for their alleged involvement in the brutal beheading of Samuel Paty, a history teacher murdered by an Islamist terrorist in 2020.
At a Glance
- Samuel Paty was killed in October 2020 near his school for using Prophet Muhammad caricatures in a civics class
- The trial focuses on those accused of driving a smear campaign, encouraging the attack, or glorifying it on social media
- Two defendants face life imprisonment for allegedly helping the attacker obtain weapons
- The case highlights tensions between freedom of expression and religious sensitivities in France
- The trial is expected to last seven weeks, concluding in late December
The Attack and Its Aftermath
In October 2020, history teacher Samuel Paty was brutally murdered near his school by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Muslim of Chechen descent. The attack was motivated by Paty’s use of Prophet Muhammad caricatures during a civics class on freedom of expression. The horrific murder sent shockwaves through France, where free speech and secularism are ingrained in the country’s character and it grapples with the challenges of mass migration from Islamic nations.
Anzorov, the perpetrator, was killed by police shortly after the attack, but it was later revealed he had been influenced by an online smear campaign against Paty. Those allegedly responsible for encouraging violence against the teacher are now standing trial in a case that reminds the French people of its dramatic history of Islamist attacks, including the murder of journalists in 2015 and the Bataclan terror attack the same year that killed more than 100 people.
The Trial and Its Significance
The trial, which began on November 4 at the Paris special criminal court, involves eight defendants accused of various roles in the events leading up to Paty’s murder. Most face charges of participating in a criminal terrorist conspiracy, with potential sentences of up to 30 years in jail. Two defendants, Nabil Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov, could face life imprisonment for allegedly helping Anzorov obtain weapons for the attack.
“A professor was murdered because he was teaching freedom of expression,” Francis Szpiner, a lawyer for Paty’s relatives, said.
The Online Smear Campaign
Central to the case is a 13-year-old girl’s false claims about Paty’s class, which spread rapidly via social media and led to an international hate campaign. The student, who was not present in the class, falsely alleged that Paty had asked Muslim students to leave before showing the controversial images. This lie was amplified by the girl’s father, Brahim Chnina, and local Islamist Abdelhakim Sefrioui through online videos.
“Islam and the prophet insulted in a public college,” Abdelhakim Sefrioui claimed in one of these videos.
The prosecution argues that publicly denouncing Paty for blasphemy in a climate of heightened jihadist threats was tantamount to designating him as a terrorist target. The online rumors lead to threats and hate messages directed at the school and its staff from all over the world.
Implications for Freedom of Expression
Paty’s use of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons in a lesson about free speech became a particular flashpoint and prompted fury that harked back to 2015 when cartoonists and writers for the satirical magazine were shot dead at their desks in Paris after publishing cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed. After those murders, world leaders pledged their commitment to freedom of expression, but little changed on the European landscape. Immigration continued, for instance, as politicians refused to address potential downsides of introducing religious censorship into a nation with strong secular ideals.
