A teacher was stabbed and decapitated outside her school in Paris in 2020 after an online hate campaign.
A French court has jailed eight people for the murder of a teacher who showed pictures of the Prophet Mohammad during a class debate about free speech.
The Paris Special Assize Court handed down prison terms of 1 to 16 years to the defendants, who were found guilty of organizing a hate campaign that culminated. cutting off the head the 47-year-old Samuel Paty outside his school in Paris in 2020 is an 18-year-old Russian Chechen, who was shot dead by the police at the scene.
The 540-seat court was packed on Friday for the verdict, with seven judges meeting or exceeding the demands of the prosecution, citing “overwhelming materiality”.
Naim Boudaoud, 22, and Azim Epsirkhanov, 23, were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison each. Boudaoud is accused of driving Abdoullakh Anzorov to school while Epsirkhanov helped him get weapons.
Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a 65-year-old Muslim preacher, was given 15 years for organizing an online hate campaign against Paty and denouncing Paty in a video as a “terrorist”. His lawyer said he would appeal the decision, according to French media.
Brahim Chnina, 52, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his involvement in a “terrorist business”. He had published videos in which he pretended to Paty that he was punishing his daughter for complaining about the class, naming the teacher and mentioning her school.
Four other defendants, who are part of a group of sympathizers close to Anzorov who spread disinformation online, were also sentenced.
“No one is saying they want Samuel Paty dead,” prosecutor Nicholas Braconnay told the court. “But by lighting thousands of fuses on the Internet, he knew that one of them would lead to … violence against the rude teacher.”
'Moved and relieved'
The verdict is the final chapter in Paty's case.
Last year, the court found Chnina's daughter and five other teenagers guilty of participating in the conspiracy and helping to plan the ambush.
Gaelle Paty, the slain teacher's sister, said she was “touched” and “relieved”. “Hearing the word 'guilty' – that's what I needed,” he told reporters outside court.
“I've spent this week listening to a lot of replays of what happened, and it was hard to hear, but now the judge has said what really happened, and I feel better,” he added, his voice breaking as tears filled his eyes.
The families of the accused erupted in sobs, cries, screams and violent clapping, prompting the judge to stand up several times and call for silence.
“He lied to my brother,” said a family member. One woman, crying, shouted, “They took my son away from me,” before being led out of the court by the police.