A French court convicted six minors on Friday for their connection to the beheading of history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020, an event that shocked the country. The teacher had shown his students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class on freedom of expression, which angered some Muslim parents. Among those prosecuted was a minor who reportedly informed her parents that Paty asked Muslim students to leave the classroom before displaying the cartoons. The court convicted her of making false accusations and defamatory comments, as it was proven she was not in the classroom at that time.
The other teenagers were found guilty of charges related to participating in a deliberate criminal conspiracy and assisting in setting a trap. Paty (47 years old) was murdered outside his school in a suburb of Paris by an 18-year-old attacker of Chechen descent, who was shot dead by police shortly after the attack. The court found that these teenagers were guilty because they guided the killer to Paty. Louis Caillé, lawyer for Paty’s sister Michaël, told reporters that his client "is satisfied with the full conviction," but less pleased with the sentences, which she found "too lenient."
Dylan Salama, a lawyer for one of the minors, stated that although it is difficult to talk about satisfaction in such tragic circumstances, there was a sense of relief for his client. The harshest penalty was given to a minor who was officially sentenced to six months in prison, although he will likely serve this sentence at home under electronic monitoring. The girl convicted of making false accusations and defamatory comments received an 18-month suspended sentence and was placed under supervision for two years. Another trial concerning Paty's murder, involving adults this time, is scheduled for the end of next year.
