Five former colleagues who had supported the teacher at the time were called to testify yesterday before the special criminal court in Paris. They came to talk about their trauma and express their solidarity with the Paty family.
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They were witnesses to the spiral that cost Samuel Paty his life. Sometimes wrongly accused of not having supported their colleague after his lesson on caricatures, these teachers now hope to reestablish the truth with Gaëlle Paty, the sister of the deceased teacher.
“Today, to hear that the majority of teachers did not support it, it's a bit hard. At Bois d'Aulne college we have a teaching team of around 55 teachers. Of these 55 teachers there are has 53 who will support him by various means Some will accompany him home, to school in the morning, others will write him messages, others will chat with him.says David Roudaut, former history and geography professor.
Samuel Paty’s sister adds: “I know that it is a college where he liked to work, where he liked the working atmosphere and I also know that the teachers were, from the start, supportive, at least for almost all of them. “It's important for me to be here with them today to express my support.”
Four years after the attack, some of Samuel Paty's former colleagues took the stand to recount the trauma and the pain that is still very present: “It was not easy to continue working in this college. Passing by the place where Samuel was killed every day, passing his room every day, there was this absence which was very present and It took us a while to rediscover the taste for teaching.”testifies Charlotte, also a professor at Bois d’Aulne college.
Close to Samuel Paty, David Roudaut has since left teaching: “I felt that it was going to be difficult for me to debate ideas, to bring up certain subjects, to be able to face certain challenges during the tributes. I did not want to become a bad teacher”he summarizes.
Civil parties in this trial, the professors decided to participate as much as possible in the debates to answer their questions and allow them to “put meaning into an intimate tragedy”. Since the death of Samuel Paty, they have stepped up actions to honor the memory of their late colleague.
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