Samuel Paty, the murderer's friends and the instigators of the hate campaign condemned

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Five years after the history teacher's death Samuel Patty – beheaded by a young Islamist, Abdoullakh Anzorov, near his secondary school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on 16 October 2020 – the Special Assize Court of Paris he pronounced on Friday evening a verdict heavy against defendants. Eight people involved in various capacities in a terrorist attack that shocked the population and traumatized the teaching staff of the France.

After seven weeks of hearings, the two “friends” of the murderer – of Chechen origins, radicalized by his father and killed by the police immediately after the attack – were sentenced to 16 years in prison each. It's about Naim Boudaoud22 years old, and Azim Epsirkhanov23 years old, who received the heaviest sentences, despite always denying knowledge of the killer's intentions.

Their guilt was nevertheless recognized: the day before the attack, the three young people had gone to Rouen to purchase a knife (not the one used to behead Samuel Paty), but which was found at the crime scene. During the hearing, Boudaoud and Epsirkhanov reiterated that the killer had explained to them that the weapon would be “a gift” for their grandfather. Finally, on the day of the attack, Boudaoud had accompanied the killer on a gun shop and then left it near the school where the teacher taught.

“A digital Fatwa”

Another verdict was also awaited: the one on the two men considered to be the instigators of a hate campaign on the Internet against the professor, through a “digital fatwa”. The two defendants were found guilty of terrorist conspiracy: the Paris Assize Court convicted them for this brahim chinina52 years old, 13 years in prison and the Islamist preacher Abdelhakim Sefrioui65 years old, at 15 years old.

Chnina is the father of the student (already convicted by the juvenile court) who actually triggered the tragedy. The girl had lied, accusing Professor Paty of having discriminated against Muslim students during a lesson on freedom of expression in which he had demonstrated a cartoon about Muhammad. Based on this lie, the father published messages and a video hostile to the teacher.

Accomplices in the world of Islamic extremism

Sefrioui, an Islamist considered a Hamas sympathizer, then contacted the student's father and described Paty as a “thug” in another video. Together, the two men went to the school where Samuel Paty worked to demand action.

During the trial, the lawyers of the two accused emphasized that he was not there no evidence that the killer had seen their video. They then declared that their clients would never have had contact with the murderer. Four other defendants, including a woman, belonged to the world of Islamic extremism who was in contact with the killer on social networks. All were found guilty of condoning terrorism.