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Samuel Paty murder: what impact has teacher's killing had in France?

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher at a school in the suburbs of Paris, was beheaded near his place of work on October 16, 2020.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

A year on from a teacher's brutal murder in France and the aftershocks are still being felt, reports Euronews.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher at a school in the suburbs of Paris, was beheaded near his place of work on October 16, 2020.

His attacker, a young radicalised Chechen refugee called Abdoullakh Anzorov, was later shot dead by police.

Two weeks earlier, Paty had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson on the freedom of speech.

Police later charged a girl after her complaints allegedly sparked an online campaign against Paty, which caught the attention of Anzorov. The girl told her father that Muslim students in Paty's class were asked to identify themselves. She later admitted not being present in class on the day of the lesson in question. Other students were charged with identifying Paty to his murderer in exchange for money.

Speaking anonymously to the Libération newspaper earlier this week, colleagues of Paty reported being "afraid" on a daily basis.

Read more of this report from Euronews.