6 former pupils go on trial in Paris over French teacher's murder

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – The trial of the suspects in the murder of a history teacher in France in 2020 began in Paris.

A total of six former students appeared before the juvenile court since they were minors at the time of the crime, broadcaster France Info reported on Monday.

The trial will be held behind closed doors until Dec. 8, the same source added.

Among those suspects, five are accused of "criminal association in order to prepare aggravated violence," while the sixth one will be tried for "calumny."

The eight major suspects' trial will begin at the end of 2024, France Info added.

The attack sparked an emotional ire in France and marked the society's memory.

On Oct. 16, 2020, Abdoullah Anzorov decapitated Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old teacher of history and geography at Bois-d'Aulne College in Conflans-Saint-Honorine, a suburb of Paris.

The 18-year-old attacker of Chechen origin was gunned down by police.

The teacher, during one of his classes on freedom of expression, had shown the controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad, according to media reports.