The Blog

2021-

2021-03-09 b
MUSLIM GIRL HAS BLOOD ON HER HANDS
"The girl has been charged with slander, while her father and an Islamist preacher have been charged with complicity in the killing."

French schoolgirl, 13, admits MAKING UP story that sparked hate campaign resulting in teenage Jihadi beheading teacher Samuel Paty

•High school teacher Samuel Paty was killed on October 16 in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine

• The murder followed an online hate campaign against Paty, started by a student's father after claims his daughter made about a lesson on free speech

• In the lesson, Paty showed controversial depictions of the Prophet Mohammed

• The unnamed girl has now admitted that she did not attend the lesson and was actually off school that day

• Her lawyer claims she lied because she 'felt trapped' after her classmates asked her to be a spokesperson for their concerns

• Paty's death reignited tensions over the strict separation of church and state in France

A French schoolgirl has admitted to telling lies about a teacher who was beheaded after an online hate campaign kickstarted by her comments.

The unidentified girl had claimed that high school teacher Samuel Paty showed an image depicting the Prophet Mohammed during a lesson on free speech.

She said that Paty had asked Muslim pupils to leave the class before he showed the image, which had appeared in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

On Monday, the girl's lawyer revealed that his client, 13, had confirmed that she did not actually attend the class and was off sick at the time.

'She lied because she felt trapped in a spiral because her classmates had asked her to be a spokesperson,' lawyer Mbeko Tabula said.

After the girl, who reportedly had a history of behavioural problems, made her initial claims about the class, her father filed a legal complaint and posted a video online in early October.

The video, which detailed the allegations against Paty, provoked outrage on social media, including death threats against the teacher.

Paty was beheaded in the street by an 18-year-old man of Chechen descent on October 16. The man was shot dead by police shortly after the attack.

The girl has been charged with slander, while her father and an Islamist preacher have been charged with complicity in the killing.

The lawyer for Paty's family expressed her anger on Tuesday over the lies spread on social media which led to the murder and the girl's claim she was a spokesperson for others.

'Everything in the investigation showed very early that she lied,' Virginie Le Roy told RTL radio on Tuesday.

'[She was] a spokesperson of what? Of lies, of events that never happened? This explanation does not convince me and makes me rather angry because the facts are serious, they're tragic.'

Paty's killing, which happened in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, sent shockwaves through France and reignited tensions in the country over the strict divide of church and state. (read more)

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