Fourteen individuals connected to the teenage Islamist who beheaded a French history teacher in 2020 will be prosecuted for terror-related charges after authorities confirmed their intention this week to pursue associates of the 18-year jihadist Abdullakh Anzorov for complicity in murder.
A Chechen-born Islamist and refugee, Anzorov, killed history teacher Samuel Paty over a dispute about showing cartoons of Muhammed to students in the Parisian suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in October 2020 in an incident that highlighted the growing gulf between the French Republic and Islamist extremism.
Paty evoked the anger of Muslim students and their parents after allegedly showing the controversial cartoons by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. A viral hate campaign by Islamist preachers spread Paty’s personal details shortly before the murder.
Prosecutors confirmed that a total of 14 associates of Anzorov will face trial for assisting in the murder, including six teenagers who allegedly conducted surveillance before the assassination occurred. Anzorov arrived on the school premises on 16 October 2020, and bribed students to ascertain the location of Paty before stabbing the teacher to death and posting a picture of his decapitated corpse on social media.
Also among the suspects are an Islamic preacher, alleged to have directly been in contact with Anzorov over Twitter, and two friends who accompanied him to purchase the knife.
Anzorov was shot by police shortly after the murder. President Macron declared the attack a direct assault on the values of the French state and vowed to redouble the country’s anti-terror efforts.
The incident set in motion a dramatic diplomatic spat between France and the Islamic world with President Erdoğan of Turkey seemingly justifying the murder by comparing the treatment of Muslims in Europe to Jews in the Third Reich and calling for a boycott on French goods.
Outrage ensued after footage emerged of a funeral held for Anzorov in Chechnya with mourners praising the Islamist for his act of jihad. In 2021, French police launched an investigation after a memorial to the slain teacher was vandalised by suspected Islamists.
In response to the murder, the French National Assembly drafted emergency legislation to fight Islamism. New laws clamping down on foreign funding of mosques and the harassment of public officials were passed in February 2021. France has struggled against Islamist extremism over the past decade with high-profile attacks destabilising the state and fueling a rise of right-wing populism.
Depictions of Muhammed are a contentious issue in Europe and a notorious flashpoint for secular societies and the Islamic world. The Danish Parliament is currently reviewing how schools teach about the 2005-2006 cartoon controversy. This question of curriculum triggered a wave of anti-Danish hate globally.
