Trial of French Teens Commences for the Murder of Teacher Samuel Paty

A trial is set to begin today for six French teenagers who are accused of being complicit in the murder of a teacher. The incident occurred in 2020 when Samuel Paty, a teacher, was killed by a Chechen refugee. The suspects are facing charges of slander and for pointing out the teacher to the killer while they were at school. If found guilty, they could face a maximum prison sentence of 2.5 years. Paty was brutally stabbed and beheaded after allegedly showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson on freedom of expression. The youngest suspect, who was 13 at the time of the murder, had been suspended from school before the incident for unrelated reasons. However, she is accused of falsely claiming to her father that she had been disciplined for confronting Paty over a request for Muslim students to leave the class. Her father then posted videos on social media calling for the teacher to be fired. Prosecutors believe that these videos influenced the 18-year-old Chechen, Abdoullakh Anzorov, to travel a considerable distance to commit the murder. The other five suspects are accused of helping Anzorov identify Paty at the school in exchange for payment. They were allegedly tasked with filming Paty apologizing for showing the Prophet Muhammad caricatures. Another trial is scheduled for next year involving eight adults, including the father of the 13-year-old girl on trial. In addition, two friends of Anzorov have been accused of complicity in a terrorist murder, with one accused of assisting in the purchase of weapons and the other of driving him to the school where Paty worked on the day of the murder.