Macron denounces 'terrorist attack' after teacher who gave freedom of expression lesson is decapitated

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The murder of 47-year-old history teacher Samuel Paty from near Paris who had shown his class caricatures of the prophet Muhammad as part of a lesson on freedom of expression has been greeted with shock and anger in France. The 18-year-old suspect, believed to be a Russian of Chechen origin, and named later as Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A., was later shot dead by police. Eleven people have also been questioned by police as part of an anti-terrorist investigation. President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the scene of the murder at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a suburb north-west of Paris, on Friday October 16th said: “One of our compatriots was murdered today because he taught ... his students about freedom of expression, freedom to believe or not believe.”

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An anti-terrorism investigation has been opened in France after a history teacher was decapitated in the street near his school. The teacher, identified as Samuel Paty, had reportedly shown caricatures of Muhammad to his class as part of a lesson on freedom of expression. The parents of one pupil later made an official complaint and the teacher is said to have received death threats on social media.

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