French court convicts 8 in 2020 beheading of teacher Samuel Paty by Islamic extremist
France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country.Paty, 47, was killed by an Islamic extremist outside his school on Oct.16, 2020, days after showing his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression.
The assailant, an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, was shot to death by police.Those who have been on trial on terrorism charges at a special court in Paris since the end of November were accused, in some cases, of providing assistance to the perpetrator and, in others, of organizing a hate campaign online before the murder took place.The 540-seat courtroom was packed for the verdict, which marked the final chapter of the Paty trial.Heavy surveillance was in place, with more than 50 police officers guarding the proceedings.Seated in the front row was Paty’s 9-year-old son, accompanied by family members.
As the lead judge, Franck Zientara, delivered sentences one after the other, emotions in the room ran high.“I am moved, and I am relieved,” said Gaëlle Paty, Samuel Paty’s sister, as she addressed a crowd of reporters after the verdict.“Hearing the word ‘guilty’ — that’s what I needed.”“I spent this week listening to a lot of rewriting of what happened, and it was hard to hear, but now the judge has stated what really happened, and it feels good,” she added, her voice breaking as tears filled her eyes.Families of the accused reacted with gasps, cries, shouts, and ironic clapping, prompting the judge to pause multiple times and call for silence.“They lied about my brother,” shouted one relative.
Another woman, sobbing, exclaimed, “They took my baby from me,” before being escorted out by police officers.The seven-judge panel met or went above most of the terms requested by prosecutors, citing “the exceptional gravity of the facts.”Naïm Boud...