France: Trial Begins in Beheading of Teacher Over Prophet Cartoons
France: Trial Begins in Beheading of Teacher Over Prophet Cartoons
The Facts
Eight people went on trial in Paris on Monday in connection with the murder of Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old history teacher, who was beheaded outside his school on Oct. 16, 2020. The assailant, an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, Abdoullakh Anzorov, was killed by police.
The attack occurred 11 days after Paty showed caricatures of Prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of expression, where he reportedly told the students who might be offended to leave the classroom if they wished.
The Spin
Samuel Paty's murder — which horrified and petrified France — was a direct attack on a democracy's fundamental values of freedom of expression and secularism in public life. The self-styled defenders of Islam shouldmust be triedheld accountable for hating France's secular values, triggering an international hate campaign, and murdering a conscientious and much-liked history teacher.
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