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Attack on a teacher near Paris: the perpetrator may have had contact with the father of a student

2020-10-20T19:22:02.317Z


New findings after the Islamist attack near Paris: The 18-year-old, who beheaded the history teacher Samuel Paty, is said to have exchanged messages with the father of a schoolgirl.


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Memory of the beheaded teacher Samuel Paty in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine

Photo: BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

The father of a schoolgirl, who was arrested after the Islamist attack on a history teacher near Paris, is said to have been in contact with the perpetrator.

According to information from investigators, the father and the 18-year-old perpetrator exchanged WhatsApp messages on the day of the attack, reports the AFP news agency.

The broadcaster BFM TV also reported that they had exchanged messages.

However, there was no official confirmation of this, according to the dpa news agency.

Because of the decapitation of the teacher near Paris, a total of 16 people were in police custody that evening, including the student's father.

About a week before the attack, he complained on Facebook that the teacher had shown his students nude caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

In a message accompanied by a video, he called for action against the history teacher and also left his telephone number.

Daughter is supposed to attend eighth grade of school

The man's daughter was reportedly attending the eighth grade of the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where the decapitated teacher had taught.

According to investigators, she is said to have not attended class on the day the teacher showed his students cartoons of Mohammed.

About a week ago, the father posted another video on the Internet in which he appeared together with an Islamist activist.

According to the public prosecutor's office, the father's half-sister is said to have gone to Syria for the Islamic State jihadist militia.

President Emmanuel Macron announced in the evening that he would step up action against "radical Islam".

The pro-Palestinian collective, named after Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who, according to Macron, was "directly" involved in the teacher's murder, is due to be dissolved by a resolution in the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

Further "decisions of this kind against associations and groups of individuals" should therefore follow.

After the teacher's murder last Friday, the police carried out dozens of operations against 51 people and associations who are alleged to be close to the Islamist spectrum.

All of these Islamists are "not necessarily connected" to the murder of the teacher, said France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

Rather, the missions were aimed at "conveying a message: not a minute's delay for the enemies of the republic".

Also students in police custody

The French interior ministry also announced the closure of a mosque in the Paris suburb of Pantin.

The interior minister accused the imam of the mosque of threatening the victim and of having published the address of his school.

According to the Interior Ministry, the mosque will remain closed for six months from Wednesday evening.

According to the authorities, family members of the perpetrator and five students from Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where the victim worked as a history teacher, are among the 16 people in police custody.

According to investigators, one or more students are suspected of having given the 18-year-old perpetrator of Chechen origin information about the victim, possibly for money.

Meanwhile, several memorial services in honor of the victim have been announced.

A national commemoration will be held in Paris on Wednesday in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron.

France's Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, announced that the teacher would be posthumously awarded the Legion of Honor.

The German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also expressed his condolences to the French.

He emphasized the importance of teaching about freedom of expression: "As precious as our core values ​​are, they are also fragile if we cannot convey them to our youth in a lively manner."

Icon: The mirror

kfr / AFP / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-10-20

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