News - 6 teens stand trial in France for involvement in history teacher’s beheading in 2020

Six teenagers go on trial behind closed doors on Monday in connection with the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020, Reuters reported. The teacher had shown his pupils caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression, angering some Muslim parents. Most Muslims avoid depictions of prophets, considering them blasphemous. A 13-year-old girl at the time allegedly told her parents that Paty had asked Muslim pupils to leave the room before showing the caricatures. She is facing false accusation charges after it was established that she was not in the class when it happened. Paty, 47, was killed outside his school in a Paris suburb by an 18-year-old assailant of Chechen origin, who was shot dead by police soon after the attack. The five other minors, aged between 14 and 15 at the time of the attack, will be charged with premeditated criminal conspiracy, or ambush. They are suspected of having pointed out Paty to the murderer or helped monitor his exit from the school. All six minors were referred to the children's court and could face 2-1/2 years in prison. The hearings, due to last until December 8, will be held behind closed doors.