French prosecutors set to try 14 people over beheading of Samuel Paty

France will try 14 people including six CHILDREN over murder of teacher Samuel Paty three years after he was beheaded by Islamic extremist

• Samuel Paty was beheaded in October 2020 by an 18-year-old Islamic extremist
• Abdullakh Anzorov was shot dead by police at the scene of the bloody murder
• Prosecutors recommend charge of complicity in terrorist murder for two friends

French prosecutors are seeking to try 14 people over the murder and beheading of a schoolteacher by an Islamic extremist in 2020, a crime that shocked France, a source close to the case told AFP today.

The most serious charges – complicity in a terrorist murder – have been recommended for two friends of the Chechen refugee who murdered Samuel Paty after he showed pictures of the Prophet Mohammed to his pupils during an ethics class.

The national terror crime prosecutor’s office has also recommended charges against six other adults – and six children – for alleged offences linked to Paty’s slaughter in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

The murderer, 18-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov, was shot dead by police at the scene.

A photograph depicting French history and geography teacher Samuel Paty is seen at his tribute ceremony in Eragny-sur-Oise, northwestern Paris

The terrorist who beheaded a French teacher near Paris, 18-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov

Crowds gathered at Place de la Sorbonne to watch the National Tribute to the murdered school teacher Samuel Paty lead by French president Emmanuel Macron on October 21, 2020 in Paris

Prosecutors believe his friends, named as Azim E. and Naim B. in the investigation, accompanied Anzorov to buy a knife and Naim. B travelled with him to the school.

Investigating magistrates will make the final call on whether to charge the suspects and send them to trial.

Mr Paty was targeted after messages spread on social media that he had shown cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to his class.

The 47-year-old history and geography teacher had used the magazine as part of an ethics class to discuss free speech laws in secular France, which does not criminalise blasphemy.

Prosecutors have also recommended charges of associating with terrorists for the father of a student at Mr Paty’s school, a radical Islamic preacher, as well as a Muslim convert in contact with Anzorov via Twitter.

A teenager was jailed in October for two years for her role in the horrific beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty (pictured)

Many paid tribute to the slain teacher in October 2020 following his death, with the phrase ‘Je Suis Samuel’ shared in solidarity 

Mr Paty has become a symbol of France’s fight to maintain its strict secular values, with president Emmanuel Macron calling him a ‘quiet hero’ of the republic.

News of the investigation into Anzorov’s alleged accomplices comes just months after a Muslim girl, 17, was jailed for two years last October for her role in Mr Paty’s murder. 

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced for ‘terrorist criminal association’ by the Paris Children’s Court.

The teenager relayed the terrorist’s demands at the time of the killing and was found to have Isis imagery and weapons information on her phone.

During sentencing, she expressed a desire to travel to Turkey or Chechnya, with prosecutors saying she still showed sign of radicalisation.

But in custody, police said she had made comments condemning the assassination. 

She was handed a three-and-a-half-year sentence, 18 months suspended.

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