Muslim schoolgirl admits lying that her teacher was Islamophobic – which led to him being decapitated by a jihadist – because she was suspended for two days and worried her parents would be angry
The Muslim schoolgirl who accused her teacher of Islamophobia and began rumours that led to a jihadist decapitating him in the street in France has admitted lying and apologised to the victim’s family in a remarkable court hearing today.
History and geography teacher Samuel Paty was murdered on October 16, 2020 by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Islamist radical of Chechen origin.
Anzorov tracked down 47-year-old Paty and brutally hacked his head off after seeing pictures and videos of him circulated on social media as part of a ruthless campaign of harassment.
It began after the schoolgirl in question claimed that Paty had ordered Muslim students to leave his classroom while he showed the rest of the class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
But she revealed today that she had not even been present in the class and invented the lie, fearing repercussions from her parents after she was suspended two days for bad behaviour.
The student, who was 13 at the time of the murder and whose identity remains protected due to her age, cried as she addressed Paty’s family.
‘I know it’s hard to hear, but I wanted to apologise,’ she reportedly said. ‘I wanted to apologise sincerely. I’m sorry for destroying your life.’
She reportedly told the special court hearing today: ‘I apologise for my lie that brought us all back here,’ and admitted to those in attendance, including the accused: ‘Without me, no one would be here.’
The schoolgirl’s father, Brahim Chnina, is accused of launching the online harassment campaign against Paty, while other teen students were tried last year after they identified him for the attacker in exchange for a few hundred euros.
Anzorov, who had requested asylum in France and travelled more than 60 miles to cut down Paty in public, was killed by police shortly after the murder near the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine west of Paris.
Paty is regarded as a free-speech hero by many in France.
He had shown the Charlie Hebdo caricatures to students as part of an ethics class in which his pupils were discussing the fallout of the 2015 terror attack on newspaper’s offices in which 12 people were murdered by extremists.
But he had not ordered any students to leave the room, instead telling them what he was going to do as part of the ethics lesson before inviting them to turn away if they thought they would be offended by the caricatures.
Seven men and one woman are appearing at the Special Assize Court in Paris amid the trial over his murder, which is set to last until December 20.
Chnina is one of them, facing charges of association with a terrorist organisation for his alleged involvement in the online campaign targeting Paty.
Six students, including Chnina’s daughter, were tried last year for their role in Paty’s death.
The schoolgirl had accompanied her father to file a complaint at the time. ‘I wanted to tell my parents that it was false, I knew that my father was not going to do anything to me , but I was afraid to say it,’ she said in court today.
After Paty’s murder, she was taken into police custody, during which time she continued to lie. ‘My teacher had been decapitated, my father was in police custody, I couldn’t say it was false,’ she said.
She finally confessed the truth after 30 hours and two police interviews.
