Eight sentenced in France in connection with the murder of teacher Samuel Paty | Crime news

A teacher was stabbed and beheaded outside his school in Paris in 2020 after an online hate campaign.

A French court has sentenced eight people to prison for their role in the killing of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class discussion on freedom of expression.

The Special Criminal Court in Paris issued prison sentences ranging from one to 16 years to the defendants who were convicted of organizing a hate campaign that culminated in… decapitation 47-year-old Samuel Paty outside his school in Paris in 2020 by an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, who was shot dead by police at the scene.

The 540-seat courtroom was packed Friday for the ruling, which saw a panel of seven judges meet or exceed most of the conditions requested by prosecutors, citing the “extraordinary seriousness of the facts.”

Naim Boudaoud, 22, and Azim Ibsirkhanov, 23, were convicted of complicity in the murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison each. Boudaoud was accused of transporting the attacker, Abdullahi Anzorov, to the school while Ibserkhanov helped him buy weapons.

Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a 65-year-old Muslim preacher, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for organizing an online hate campaign against Paty and calling him a “thug” in a video. His lawyer said he would appeal the decision, according to French media.

Ibrahim Shanina (52 years old) was sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of association with a “terrorist project.” He had posted videos falsely accusing Patty of disciplining his daughter for complaining about the class, naming the teacher and identifying his school.

The four other defendants, part of a network of Anzorov sympathizers spreading inflammatory content online, were also convicted.

Prosecutor Nicolas Bracone told the court: “No one is saying they want Samuel Paty dead.” “But by lighting thousands of fuse on the Internet, they knew that one of them would lead to… violence against the infidel teacher.”

“Impressed and relieved”

The ruling represents the final chapter in Paty’s trial.

Last year, the court convicted Shanina’s daughter and five other teenagers of participating in a premeditated conspiracy and helping to prepare an ambush.

Gayle Batty, the murdered teacher’s sister, said she was “moved” and “relieved”. “Hearing the word ‘guilty’ was what I needed,” she told reporters outside court.

She added: “I spent this week listening to a lot of rewriting of what happened, and it was hard to hear, but now the judge has mentioned what actually happened, and it feels good.”

The response of the defendants’ families was gasping, crying, screaming and sarcastic applause, which prompted the judge to stop several times and demand silence.

“They lied about my brother,” a relative shouted. Another woman cried out: “They took my baby from me,” before police officers escorted her out of the courtroom.