French legal system announcements and parole board decisions

French Court Sentences Eight Up to 16 Years in 2020 Murder of Teacher Samuel Paty

Dec 20, 2024, 09:24 PM

After a seven-week trial, a French special criminal court in Paris has convicted eight individuals for their roles in the 2020 assassination of teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded after showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class on free speech. The court delivered its verdict on Friday evening, handing down sentences ranging from one year to 16 years in prison. The two friends of the killer, Naïm Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov, were found guilty of complicity in murder and were each sentenced to 16 years in prison. Abdelhakim Sefrioui, an Islamist preacher, received a 15-year sentence, while the father of a student, Brahim Chnina, was sentenced to 13 years. Both were convicted of terrorist criminal conspiracy. The other four defendants received sentences of up to 14 years for their roles in the online hate campaign that fueled the attack. The court's verdict exceeded the prosecution's requests in several cases, reflecting the severity of the offenses and the impact on French society.