Members of the press gathered outside the courtroom where the trial of eight adults accused in the murder of teacher Samuel Paty was taking place at the Paris Special Assize Court on November 4, 2024. — AFP

The father of a French student, whose account of the use of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) in a free speech class indirectly led to the teacher's brutal murder, faced trial on Monday, charged with association with a terrorist network. Samuel Paty, 47, was stabbed repeatedly in 2020 outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine near Paris by an 18-year-old assailant of Chechen origin, and then decapitated, just days after showing his pupils the caricatures. Muslims consider depictions of prophets to be blasphemous.

Prosecutors claim that Brahim Chnina used social media to escalate a dispute over the civics class into a campaign against Paty, creating and distributing videos intended to incite hatred towards the middle-school teacher. They also accuse Chnina of collaborating with Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a Franco-Moroccan who founded the hardline Islamist organization, the Cheikh Yassine Collective, which was subsequently banned in France. Both men are charged with association with a terrorist organization. Chnina's lawyer declined to comment before the trial began.

Sefrioui's lawyer, Ouadie Elhamamouchi, has stated that there is no evidence of contact between Sefrioui and the Chechen killer, who was shot dead by police. Elhamamouchi told Reuters that Sefrioui would demonstrate to the court that he had no connection to the heinous attack, which he has condemned since its inception.

Alongside Chnina and Sefrioui, six other individuals are on trial in Paris, including two associates of Paty's killer, Abdullakh Anzorov. Prosecutors allege that they were aware of Anzorov's plans to kill Paty and assisted him in acquiring weapons. Both are charged with complicity in a terrorist killing, and French media reports indicate that they have both denied any wrongdoing.

In a previous trial last year, Chnina's daughter and five other adolescents were found guilty of charges related to participating in a premeditated criminal conspiracy and aiding in the preparation of an ambush. Chnina's daughter was not in Paty's class when the caricatures were shown, and the court found her guilty of making false accusations and slanderous comments.

The current trial is expected to continue until December.

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