Murder of Samuel Paty

Murder of Samuel Paty
Part of Islamic terrorism in Europe
Samuel Paty
LocationÉragny-sur-Oise, Île-de-France, France
Coordinates49°0′50.08″N 2°6′55.3″E / 49.0139111°N 2.115361°E / 49.0139111; 2.115361
Date16 October 2020 (2020-10-16)
17:00 (CEST)
Attack type
Decapitation
WeaponCleaver
Deaths2 (including the perpetrator)
VictimSamuel Paty
PerpetratorAbdoullakh Anzorov
MotiveJihadism, Islamic extremism

On 16 October 2020, Samuel Paty (French pronunciation: [samɥɛl pati]), a French secondary school teacher, was attacked and killed in Éragny-sur-Oise,[1] Île-de-France, France, by an Islamist terrorist.

The perpetrator, Abdoullakh Abouyezidovich Anzorov, an 18-year-old Chechen Muslim refugee, killed and beheaded Paty with a cleaver, and was shot and killed by police minutes later. A social media campaign against Paty was linked to his subsequent murder.[2] One of Paty's students had alleged that in a class on freedom of expression, he had shown his students Charlie Hebdo's 2012 cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, despite the fact that she was absent from the class that day.[3][4][5] She alleged that one of the cartoons portrayed an image of Muhammad naked with his genitals exposed.[6][7] Since then, ten people have been charged with conspiring with and assisting the killer, including an imam, a parent of a student, and two students at Paty's school.[2][8]

French president Emmanuel Macron said that the incident was "a typical Islamist terrorist attack", and that "our compatriot was killed for teaching children freedom of speech". The murder was one of several attacks in France in recent years and the second terrorist attack in France during the 2020 trial, at which alleged accomplices to the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks were to be arraigned for terrorism targeting the cartoons' publishers.[9] The Paty incident sparked debate in French society and politics. Many Muslims expressed offence at the cartoons, which were also the subject of the previous Charlie Hebdo shooting.[10] The president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith condemned the murder, as did imams of several mosques.[11] Several Muslim-majority countries, including Turkey, Iran, Jordan and Kuwait and leaders as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation denounced the attack and condemned the publication of the cartoons.[12]

The response of the French government to the murder was criticized by many Muslims,[13][14][15] including Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, some of whom called for a boycott of French goods.[12][16] In November 2023, six teens went to trial on charges related to the murder.[17][18] They were found guilty in December 2023 and given brief or suspended prison sentences.[19]

  1. ^ Devin, Willy Le (16 October 2020). "Terrorisme : des interpellations après la décapitation de l'enseignant". Libération.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b "France teacher attack: Seven charged over Samuel Paty's killing". BBC News. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  3. ^ Anthony Paone (16 October 2020). "For a teacher in France, a civics class was followed by a gruesome death". Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  4. ^ Elaine Ganley (17 October 2020). "French leader decries terrorist beheading of teacher". Associated Press. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  5. ^ Kim Willsher (17 October 2020). "Teacher decapitated in Paris named as Samuel Paty, 47". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Demonstrations Pay Homage to French Teacher Beheaded After Lesson on Charlie Hebdo". Wall Street Journal. According to a copy of the lesson plan described by Mr. Ricard, Mr. Paty showed the class two cartoons. The 13-year old girl who made the allegations against Paty has since confessed to lying.
  7. ^ "13-year-old girl lied about French teacher who was later beheaded, her lawyer says". www.cbsnews.com. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "France teacher's killer had 'contact' with jihadist in Syria". France 24. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Muslim-majority countries protest, condemn France over Muhammad cartoons". 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020. Muslim countries protest.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference LM-2020-10-19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Willsher, Kim (26 October 2020). "France urges end to boycott of French goods as Macron defends Muhammad cartoons". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Muslim groups urge Macron end 'divisive rhetoric, reject hatred'".
  15. ^ "France's Emmanuel Macron seeks to calm tensions with Muslims". [Macron's] comments prompted a wave of protests and criticism from the Muslim world.
  16. ^ "France recalls Turkey envoy after Erdogan says Macron needs 'mental check'". BBC News. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  17. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (27 November 2023). "Samuel Paty: six teenagers to go on trial in connection with French teacher's beheading". the guardian.
  18. ^ "French court opens case against teens over beheading of teacher". Al Jazeera.
  19. ^ "Six teenagers found guilty in connection with the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty". Sky News. 8 December 2023.