It’s 7:55 p.m. this Friday, December 20. The detained defendants are brought into the box. The large room is silent. At the time of the verdict in the trial of the assassination of Samuel Paty, the tension is palpable. In the box, Azim Epsirkhanov put on his blue suit. Naïm Boudaoud, his white sweater. Abdelhakim Sefrioui smiles at his lawyers. Brahim Chnina, overwhelmed, seems not to see the signs that his wife and daughters are sending him from the public benches. Yusuf Cinar has his cheeks on fire.
In the front rows, Samuel Paty's ex-partner is there with their little boy Gabriel. The parents of this college professor from Conflans-Sainte-Honorine killed on October 16, 2020 were not able to be present but Gaëlle Paty, their daughter who came every day to the hearings to represent them, and Mickaëlle Paty, the other sister of “Samu,” took their seats.
8 p.m. sharp. Having left to deliberate on Thursday around noon, the five magistrates of the specially composed Assize Court of Paris made their entry. “The criminal hearing is resumed. Accuse, stand up,” orders President Franck Zientara. “Here are the answers to the questions asked…”
“Active assistance” to the assassin
We understand this immediately from the statement of guilt: for the four main accused in this trial, the court ruled out any reclassification. Naïm Boudaoud, 22 years old, and Azim Epsirkhanov, 23 years old, were found guilty of complicity in terrorist assassination and both sentenced to 16 years of criminal imprisonment, without a security sentence, where the prosecution had requested 14 and 16 years with two security third party for terrorist criminal association.
The court considers that their complicity is “characterized” by “active assistance (brought to the terrorist Abdoullakh Anzorov18, shot dead by police after his crime) by looking for a handgun, by transporting it in the immediate vicinity of the facts.”
The court considers that both, continues the president, were “perfectly aware of the radicalism” of Anzorov and that he planned “to attack the physical integrity of a third party”, even if he did not is “not demonstrated” that they were informed of “his intention to kill Samuel Paty”.
As for the quantum, it was taken into account “their young age” (18 and 19 years old at the time of the attack), their immaturity, the absence of “any violent radicalism” and the fact that they had presented themselves at the police station the same evening of the attack.
The “central role” of the duo behind the “online hate campaign”
The president comes to the “duo” at the origin of the “online hate campaign” against Samuel Paty, of which he underlines “the central role in the causal chain” which led to exposing the teacher to “an attack on his physical integrity” even if they had “not wanted the fatal outcome”.
Brahim Chnina, the father of the schoolgirl who lied about the history-geography teacher's lesson, and the militant preacher Abdelhakim Sefroui received respectively 13 years and 15 years of criminal imprisonment for terrorist criminal association (AMTC).
“They both worked together to give the widest publicity to the alleged discrimination allegedly suffered by (the schoolgirl) in a deleterious context linked to the republication of caricatures (from Charlie Hebdo) “, states the magistrate.
“By designating the professor as a target”, “by providing the name of Samuel Paty and his place of professional practice”, they “contributed to the act” of Anzorov, becoming “his armed wing. » This, for the court, is the “understanding” which characterizes the AMTC.
Screams and sobs
On the benches, the cries and sobs of Chnina's family drown out the magistrate's voice. From this, the president underlines his daughter's “blindness in the face of lies”.
For Sefrioui, his “ascendancy” over Chnina, his “absence of desire for appeasement” and behavior inscribed “in a series of virulent or even violent actions. »
The court, continues Franck Zientara, took into account in particular their lack of violent radicalism, but also, for Sefrioui, his age. She considers it “not appropriate” to ban Chnina from French territory because of her move to France at the age of 11 and her family life – where the prosecution had requested it.
Requalifications in the “jihadosphere” aspect
The verdict, on the other hand, allows for reclassifications concerning two of the four accused in the “jihadosphere” section, three of whom appeared free. Yusuf Cinar, detained for four years, was sentenced to one year in prison for advocating acts of terrorism with three years of socio-judicial supervision. Priscilla Mangel to three years with a total suspended sentence for direct provocation to acts of terrorism.
VideoAssassination of Samuel Paty: 8 accused before the Paris Special Assize Court
The qualification of terrorist criminal association is retained for Louqmane Ingar and Ismail Gamaev, who exchanged with Anzorov on a Snapchat group with jihadist content. The sentences concerning them are respectively three years, two of which are suspended, and five years, including 30 months suspended.
“You are not going back to detention,” the president explains to these two young people who, since their release, have resumed their studies. One of them, Gamaev, described during the trial the process of his express radicalization on the Internet and his journey of deradicalization since.
“You have made a political decision! »
To each of the accused, as the verdict was pronounced, the president asked if he “understood”. Brahim Chnina shook his head, dazed, and the magistrate had to repeat the sentence to him. “You have made a political decision! », Exclaimed Abdelhakim Sefrioui angrily. Upon release, his lawyers immediately announced his intention to appeal.
Dejected, Azim Epsirkhanov did not respond, lowering the microphone with an overwhelmed gesture. Naïm Boudaoud, neither, livid, with a haggard look. In the room, his mother collapsed, crying.
This harsh verdict, which goes beyond the requisitions of the national anti-terrorism prosecution, retains the terrorist qualification for all of the eight accused – all are also sentenced to registration in the FIJAT (file of perpetrators of terrorist offenses).
“Gabriel understood that justice had been done to his father”
Among the elements of his motivation, the president underlined this: “The court endeavored to take into account the exceptional seriousness of the facts regarding the assassination of a teacher on leaving (of a) college by decapitation using a bladed weapon (…). These absolutely barbaric facts constitute an irremediable attack on the values of the Republic and secularism, at the sanctuary of the school, causing considerable turmoil in the country and more particularly within the teaching staff and a definitive and lasting trauma for the family of Samuel Paty, and in particular for his son. »
At the exit, Me Virginie Le Roy, who called Samuel Paty's parents to announce the verdict, reported their “relief”, shared by their daughter Gaëlle: “This evening, justice was done”, she said. she said in front of the cameras. “Tonight, it is the Republic which has won,” said Me Thibault de Montbrial, Mickaëlle Paty’s lawyer. “Gabriel understood that justice had been done to his father,” commented Me Francis Szpiner.
Conversely, one of Brahim Chnina's defense lawyers, Me Louise Tort, expressed her client's immense distress: “He doesn't understand.” But also his: “I am speechless. I don't understand where the justice is, neither in the verdict, nor in the conduct of this hearing. I don't understand how such a catastrophe could happen. »
Those convicted have ten days to appeal.
