Attack in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine

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On October 16, 2020, a terrorist attack occurred in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine . A middle school teacher was beheaded in the street by an Islamist- motivated 18-year-old man of Chechen origin . The perpetrator was shot dead by police while trying to arrest him. It is the fifth Islamist attack in France in 2020.

background

The 47-year-old French history and geography teacher Samuel Paty had the Mohammed caricatures known from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in a discussion at his school, the Collège du Bois-d'Aulne in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine , in early October 2020 shown about freedom of expression . In advance, Paty gave those students who thought the cartoons offended them free to leave the classroom. As a result, Brahim C., the father of a 13-year-old student, published the teacher's name and telephone number on social networks; He complained to the school administration and filed a complaint against Paty for allegedly showing pornography to minors because one of the cartoons showed a naked man. C. was supported by Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a militant Islamist known to the security authorities who has been active in the Paris region since the late 1980s . He accompanied the student's father with his complaint to the school management and published inflammatory videos against Paty on social media.

Sequence of events

On October 16, 2020, shortly before 5 p.m., Paty was beheaded with a 30 cm knife by a young adult on the street not far from the Collège du Bois-d'Aulne, where he was teaching. The alleged perpetrator shouted " Allahu akbar " several times . The perpetrator managed to publish a commented photo of the blood-smeared head of his victim lying on the sidewalk. The tweet was posted at 4:55 p.m. using the username Al Ansâr . In the accompanying text, the perpetrator presented himself as the executor of God's will, called President Emmanuel Macron "leader of the infidels" and stated that he had "executed one of his hellhounds who dared to disparage Mohammed". The perpetrator fled to Éragny-sur-Oise via the municipal border, which is 270 meters away . There he was caught by the police. According to the police, he tried to attack the officers and shot the police with an airsoft gun . He refused to drop his gun. The police then shot the man at 5:07 p.m. His body had nine gunshot wounds. Explosives experts examined his body but found no explosive materials.

Perpetrator

The perpetrator Abdulach Abujesidowitsch Ansorov ( Russian: Абдулах Абуезидович Анзоров , scientific transliteration Abdulakh Abuezidovich Anzorov ) was born on March 12, 2002 in Moscow, according to the Prosecutor General of the Anti- Terror Prosecutor . His family comes from Chechnya . According to a Russian diplomat, Ansorov came to France with his family twelve years before the attack as a six-year-old boy. He had refugee status in France and was granted a ten-year residence permit on March 4, 2020 . Ansorow was not included in any terrorist files, but had already been noticed through damage to public property and joint acts of violence. No convictions were received for these acts, which Ansorov had committed as a minor. Ansorow lived in Évreux , around 100 km from the crime scene. He had no connection with his victim. Before his act, he tried to contact the authors of the hate campaign against Samuel Paty, Brahim C. and Abdelhakim Sefrioui, via social media.

reaction

Commemoration ceremony on October 18, 2020 on the Place de la République in Paris

Criminal investigation

The French National Anti-Terror Prosecutor's Office PNAT (Parquet national antiterroriste) opened an investigation on the day of murder in connection with a terrorist act and the formation of a criminal terrorist group. The police temporarily arrested 11 people. In addition to four family members of the perpetrator, this also included the father of the schoolgirl, who reportedly complained about the discussion of the Mohammed cartoons in class, and Abdelhakim S., who had helped the father stir up the mood against Paty.

By October 19, 2020, the French authorities identified around 80 posts in social media expressing approval for the murder via the cyber crime investigation platform PHAROS and initiated investigations against the authors. The representatives of the Internet companies concerned in France were summoned for the following day by the Minister for Citizenship Marlène Schiappa to discuss the fight against cyber-Islamism.

politics and society

President Emmanuel Macron visited the crime scene and described the act as an "Islamist terrorist attack". The victim was murdered for teaching freedom of expression. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin returned early from a business trip from Morocco and convened a crisis team with President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Jean Castex .

In the days after the crime, tens of thousands of people remembered the victim despite strict regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They gathered in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine at the school of the murdered teacher, in Paris and across the country. A national memorial service has been announced for Wednesday October 21, 2020.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin ( LREM ) ordered the closure of a mosque in a suburb of Paris on October 20, 2020 on the grounds that the mosque had shared a video on the online service Facebook in which the teaching of the killed teacher was denounced. According to the Interior Ministry, there were also 34 police operations on that day against people and associations that are said to be close to the Islamist spectrum. Although the people and associations were not directly connected to the murder, operations aimed at "conveying a message: not one minute delay for the enemies of the republic".

Debate about radical Islamic influence on students

In France, before the attack, possible radicalization and Islamism were discussed in French schools. Teachers from disadvantaged suburbs report that they left out religious and political topics for fear of falling victim to violence and defamation. Facts not addressed included the Shoah , the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the biography of Muhammad and the subject of evolution (as a contrast to Abrahamic creation doctrines ). Books by the French scholar Voltaire and novels like Madame Bovary also met with massive resistance from parents in French lessons . Teachers complained about the lack of support from the French Ministry of Education.

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d Prof d'histoire décapité: l'assaillant, Abdoullakh Anzorov, était un Russe tchétchène de 18 ans. In: Paris Match . October 17, 2020, accessed on October 18, 2020 (French).
  2. ↑ a b Michaela Wiegel: Terrorist attack on teachers: An execution with announcement. In: faz.net . October 18, 2020, accessed October 18, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Michael Vosatka: An attack on the basic values ​​of the Enlightenment. In: derstandard.at . October 18, 2020, accessed October 18, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c Terrorist attack near Paris: Public prosecutor's office announces details about the perpetrator. In: spiegel.de . October 17, 2020, accessed October 18, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Assassination de Conflans: ce que l'on sait de l'enquête après le meurtre brutal de Samuel Paty. In: Le Monde . October 17, 2020, accessed on October 19, 2020 (French).
  6. ^ A b France teacher attack: Suspect 'asked pupils to point Samuel Paty out'. In: BBC News . October 17, 2020, accessed October 17, 2020 .
  7. ^ Quote Twitter: "Au nom d'Allah, le Tout Miséricordieux, le Très Miséricordieux. De Abdullah, le Serviteur d'Allah, À marcon, le dirigeant des infidèles, j'ai exécuté un des tes chiens de l'enfer qui a osé rabaisser Muhammad, calme ses semblables avant qu'on ne vous inflige un dur chatiment. »- Translation:“ In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. From Abdullah, the servant of Allah, to marcon, the ruler of the infidels, I executed one of your hellhounds who dared to belittle Mohammed and appeased my fellow men before they inflict a severe punishment on you. ” Source: Twitter posted October 16, 2020 , 4:55 pm.
  8. ↑ Homme décapité dans les Yvelines: que s'est-il passé? In: bfmtv.com . October 16, 2020, accessed on October 18, 2020 (French).
  9. ↑ tagesschau.de: France: Further arrests after the attack. Retrieved October 20, 2020 .
  10. ↑ France beheading suspect had no links with Russia. In: ewn.co.za. October 17, 2020, accessed October 19, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Teacher beheaded - perpetrator lived as a refugee in France. In: welt.de . October 17, 2020, accessed October 18, 2020 .
  12. ^ Sarah-Lou Cohen, Ambre Lepoivre: Professeur décapité: le terroriste avait contacté les auteurs des vidéos se plaignant de Samuel Paty pour se renseigner. In: bfmtv.com . October 19, 2020, accessed on October 19, 2020 (French).
  13. ↑ Alexandra Gonzalez, Cécile Ollivier, Clarisse Martin: Val-d'Oise: pourquoi le parquet antiterroriste s'est-il saisi aussi rapidement? In: BFM TV . October 16, 2020, accessed on October 18, 2020 (French).
  14. ^ "Assassination de Conflans: quinze personnes en garde à vue, homage to Samuel Paty mercredi à la Sorbonne" lemonde.fr of October 19, 2020
  15. ↑ terrorism inquiry after teacher beheaded near Paris. In: BBC News . October 16, 2020, accessed October 17, 2020 .
  16. ^ "J'ai pris conscience qu'on peut mourir d'enseigner": des milliers de personnes rassemblées en France en hommage à Samuel Paty. In: Le Monde . October 18, 2020, accessed on October 19, 2020 (French).
  17. ↑ tagesschau.de: France's interior minister closes the mosque. Retrieved October 20, 2020 .
  18. ↑ a b Jürg Altwegg: Islamist murder of teachers: Fear rules . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed October 20, 2020]).