They were the first to intervene on October 16, 2020. Their testimony is chilling. The victim's family also began to speak on Friday before the Paris Special Assize Court.
Of all the testimonies that have painfully resonated since Monday, at the trial of the assassination of Samuel Paty, this remains one of the most moving.
This Friday, Cécile prefers to close her eyes to relive the scene that she must recreate in front of the special criminal court in Paris.
On October 16, 2020, she patrolled with Cédric, a trainee for a month, near the Bois d'Aulne college, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, because incidents had been reported a few days earlier. They both spot a group near the establishment.
“Two boys present, including the one who was dressed all in black and not like the others, challenged us with their gaze (the terrorist Abdoullakh Anzorov, Editor's note). They ran off and I asked my colleague Cédric that we start again the vehicle and we follow them, she explains.
“I thought it was a mannequin on the ground”
The police first lost sight of the suspects, before being alerted by motorists: “He’s cutting off his head!” The policewoman then sees the body of Professor Paty.
“I thought it was a mannequin on the ground. I met Samuel’s gaze,” describes the policewoman, her voice quavering, reports TF1. Cédric then sees the victim's head, which he takes for a mask placed on the ground, because “it was halloween”he said.
The terrorist, crouching, “was finishing his act, he was determined”, says Cécile. He just stabbed the teacher 14 times, decapitated him and took a photo.
“Anzorov was still following us with his gun and the kids were going to go out”
Then “he got up, pointed his gun at us and shot us three times”explains the municipal police officer. She is not armed and asks her colleague to speed up.
“But Anzorov was still following us with his gun and the kids were going to go out,” she continues. She calls 17. Jérôme is one of the national police officers who arrive on site.
Samuel Paty's sister addresses the accused “A horrifying vision awaited us: a body on the road, decapitated, its head apart. It seemed to be looking at us”he relates, his gaze absent.
The terrorist refuses to surrender. “We told him: “On the ground, on the ground, throw your weapon”, dozens of times, but he refuses to comply”describes the police officer who then comes under fire from the semi-automatic compressed air pistol.
“I wondered what we were going to do to stop him”
“We took shelter as best we could. We reiterated our orders to get on the ground and lie down. He ran towards us with his weapon. I wondered what we were going to do to stop him. 'Stop.”
Hit by a bullet, the killer collapses but keeps his knife in his hand. The policeman kicks her to try to disarm her. But he “stands up” and tries to stab him before being shot.
Fourteen minutes passed between the moment the professor left the college at 4:51 p.m. and the neutralization of the terrorist. In the history and geography teacher's backpack, investigators discovered a hammer, a sign that the teacher felt threatened.
Cécile was never able to return to work. “We went to live in the countryside. The house is under camera. I almost ended my life several times. This invasion had to… It had to stop. My children and my husband stopped me to take action”she explains.
Samuel Paty's sister addresses the accused
Jérôme still wears the policeman's badge but he too remains haunted by October 16 and consumed by a feeling of guilt. “We couldn't save him. There is a little boy who lost his dad”he blurted out in tears.
“Samuel was an intellectual. He was not a believer […] But he was very respectful of all religions.” insisted on Friday, his mother, Bernadette Paty, the first member of the family to speak.
Gaëlle, one of the victim's two sisters, addressed the eight accused. “Everyone at your level could have stopped this fatal cycle and saved the life of a father, a brother, a teacher,” she asserted.
