[IsraelTimes] Two friends of dead attacker sentenced to 16 years in prison for complicity in murder; father of schoolgirl whose lies sparked killing sentenced to 13 years
La Belle France’s anti-terrorism court on Friday convicted eight people of involvement in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Gay Paree four years ago, a horrific death that shocked the country.
Paty, 47, was killed by an Islamic bully boy outside his school on Oct. 16, 2020, days after showing his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. The assailant, an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen origin, was shot to death by police.
That would be Abdoullakh Anzorov, 26, the vicious petty criminal from Chechnya whose asylum request had just been renewed for another decade when he cut off the head of local teacher, just because he was asked. Among his many personal connections was known wolf Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, the Iranian-Frenchman who a year ago geared up with knife and hammer to attack tourists near the Eiffel Tower in a classic case of Sudden Jihad Syndrome. Both miscreants swore fealty to ISIS before heading out for their grisly work, though only Mr. Anzorov sent a video of the event to a dear friend in Idlib — Hayat Tahrir al Sham/al Nusra territory. The Moslem colonists who aided and abetted Mr. Anzorov’s project didn’t bother — just being Muslim was good enough for them… Those who have been on trial on terrorism charges at a special court in Gay Paree since the end of November were accused, in some cases, of providing assistance to the perpetrator and, in others, of organizing a hate campaign online before the murder took place.
The 540-seat courtroom was packed for the verdict, which marked the final chapter of the Paty trial. Heavy surveillance was in place, with more than 50 coppers guarding the proceedings.
Seated in the front row was Paty’s 9-year-old son, accompanied by family members. As the lead judge, Franck Zientara, delivered sentences one after the other, emotions in the room ran high. Families of the accused reacted with gasps, cries, shouts, and ironic clapping, prompting the judge to pause multiple times and call for silence.
"They lied about my brother," shouted one relative. Another woman, sobbing, exclaimed, "They took my baby from me," before being escorted out by coppers.
The seven-judge panel met or went above most of the terms requested by prosecutors, citing "the exceptional gravity of the facts."
Naïm Boudaoud, 22,
| …he spells his name in the French style, so is probably Moroccan or at least Francophone North African, too … |
and Azim Epsirkhanov, 23,
friends of the attacker, were convicted of complicity in murder and sentenced to 16 years in prison each. Neither can be paroled for two-thirds of their term, about 10 years. Boudaoud was accused of driving the attacker to the school, while Epsirkhanov helped him procure weapons.
Brahim Chnina, 52,
| …Moroccan, may or may not have a half sister who emigrated to ISIS in Syria in 2014, but definitely has connected friends... |
the Moslem father of the schoolgirl whose lies sparked the events leading to Paty’s death, was sentenced to 13 years for association with a terrorist enterprise. Prosecutors had sought 10 years for him.
Abdelhakim Sefrioui,
| …65, Franco-Moroccan, founded the Cheikh Yassine Collective in 2004, which was dissolved a few days after Paty’s killing… |
a Moslem preacher, was given 15 years for organizing a hate campaign online against Paty.
The shocking death of the 47-year-old teacher left an indelible mark on La Belle France, with several schools now named after him.
The trial had begun in late November. The defendants were accused of assisting a perpetrator or organizing a hate campaign online in the lead-up to the murder.
At the time of the attack, there were protests in many Moslem countries and calls online for violence targeting La Belle France and the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo
...Pix/Hebdo2.pngA lefty French satirical magazine, home of what may well be the majority if the active testicles left in Europe...
. The newspaper had republished its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad a few weeks before Paty’s death to mark the opening of the trial over deadly 2015 attacks on its newsroom by Islamic bully boys.
The cartoon images deeply offended many Moslems, who saw them as sacrilegious. But the fallout from Paty’s killing reinforced the French state’s commitment to freedom of expression and its firm attachment to secularism in public life.
Chnina’s daughter, who was 13 at the time, claimed that she had been excluded from Paty’s class when he showed the caricatures on Oct. 5, 2020.
Chnina sent a series of messages to his contacts denouncing Paty, saying that "this sick man" needed to be fired, along with the address of the school in the Gay Paree suburb of Conflans Saint-Honorine. In reality, Chnina’s daughter had lied to him and had never attended the lesson in question.
Paty was teaching a class mandated by the National Education Ministry on freedom of expression. He discussed the caricatures in this context, saying students who did not wish to see them could temporarily leave the classroom.
An online campaign against Paty snowballed, and 11 days after the lesson, Anzorov attacked the teacher with a knife as he walked home, and displayed the teacher’s head in a post on social media. Police later fatally shot Anzorov as he advanced toward them, armed.
Chnina’s daughter was tried last year in a juvenile court and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Four other students at Paty’s school were found guilty of involvement and given suspended sentences; a fifth, who pointed out Paty to Anzorov in exchange for money, was given a 6-month term with an electronic bracelet.
Sefrioui, the preacher on trial, had presented himself as a spokesperson for Imams of La Belle France although he had been dismissed from that role. He had filmed a video in front of the school with the father of the student. He referred to the teacher as a "thug" multiple times and sought to pressure the school administration via social media.
Some of the defendants expressed regrets and claimed their innocence on the eve of the verdict. They did not convince Paty’s family.
"It’s something that really shocks the family," lawyer Virginie Le Roy said ahead of the verdicts. "You get the feeling that those in the box are absolutely unwilling to admit any responsibility whatsoever."
"Apologies are pointless, they won’t bring Samuel back, but explanations are precious to us," Le Roy said. "We haven’t had many explanations of the facts."
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