The Muslim father who allegedly organized an online hate campaign against a French schoolteacher before he was beheaded in the street outside his school said: “I’m sorry it went wrong.”
Brahim Chnina, a 52-year-old Moroccan national, faces 30 years in prison if convicted of participating in the murder of 47-year-old Samuel Paty.
Paty was murdered outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris, on October 16, 2020, by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Chechen migrant in France.
Anzorov had seen photographs and videos claiming Paty was promoting cartoons from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that mocked the Prophet Muhammad. Police shot him dead minutes after the attack.
Chnina is alleged to have organized a campaign of cyberbullying after her 13-year-old daughter falsely claimed she had been in one of Mr Paty’s classes and that Muslim pupils were asked to leave before the pictures were shown. cartoons.
Questioned during his trial for criminal terrorist association in a special court at the Palace of Justice in central Paris on Monday, Chnina said: “For my part, I am infinitely sorry for what I did.
‘I’m very sorry. I am not a terrorist and I am not part of a terrorist criminal association. It’s true that I made a video and I’m sorry it went wrong.’
Defendant Brahim Chnina sits during the trial of eight adults accused of contributing to the climate of hate that led an 18-year-old Islamist radical in 2020 to behead Professor Samuel Paty, on November 4.
History and geography teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded in front of a school near Paris
Chnina is alleged to have organized a cyberbullying campaign after her 13-year-old daughter falsely claimed she had been in one of Mr Paty’s classes.
Paty was violently stabbed to death and then beheaded by 18-year-old Chechen refugee Abdoullakh Anzorov on October 16, 2020.
The trial of eight people accused of encouraging Anzorov began last month. The court will hear how a schoolgirl’s lie spiraled out of control on social media, sparking an international hate campaign that led to Paty’s brutal murder.
Two of the defendants are accused of calling Paty a “blasphemer” on the Internet.
Two also allegedly gave Anzorov logistical help, and four others allegedly offered help through chat lines.
Chnina insisted he was not an extremist, saying today: “I am not a radical.” My religious practice is like that of all Muslims in France. I try to pray every day. “My children have the choice to pray or not.”
Chnina, who has been in pretrial detention for the past four years, admitted telling people that Paty had “bragged” about supporting Charlie Hebdo.
Ten people from the magazine, including four cartoonists, were murdered by Al Qaeda terrorists in Paris in January 2015.
“Unfortunately, I conveyed the message that my daughter told me,” Chnina said.
“I understood that Mr. Paty wanted all the students to support Charlie.”
Chnina’s daughter cannot be fully identified for legal reasons and is referred to in court by the pseudonym Zhora.
Last week, Zhora admitted to lying and apologized to Mr Paty’s family, saying: “I’m sorry for destroying his life.”
Last year, the schoolgirl received an 18-month suspended sentence for defamatory accusations she made against Paty.
When asked what her relationship was with her daughter, Chnina said: “Like any father with his children. I have a boy and six girls. They are all in my heart. She didn’t have any particular problems.
“I know kids can lie, but there was never any real problem.”
Recalling the events leading up to the attack on Mr Paty, Chnina said: ‘My daughter told me about the discrimination, about the cartoons. I found out that she had been kicked out of class.
‘I was stupid and foolish to post on social media. I just wanted to defend my daughter. “I don’t know what came into my mind to post that on social media.”
‘This is the first time I’ve talked about my daughter on social media. I made a first message, a second, without putting the contact information of Mr. Paty or the school. ‘Someone called me to get the contact details of the teacher and the school. I made the unforgivable mistake of giving the contact details of the teacher and the school.’
Chnina admitted saying that Mr Paty was “a bully” and “sick”.
This court sketch made and published on November 4, 2024 shows (LR) defendants Brahim Chnina, Nabil Boudaoud and Ismael Gamaev sitting during the trial.
Hundreds of people gather in Place de la République during a demonstration on Sunday, October 18, 2020 in Paris in support of freedom of expression and to pay tribute to a French history professor who was beheaded near Paris.
People stand in front of flowers and candles next to a sign reading “I am a teacher, I am Samuel” at the entrance to a secondary school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 30 kilometers northwest of Paris, on October 17, 2020. , after Paty. was beheaded
(LR) Defendants Abdelhakim Sefrioui, Louqmane Ingar, Azim Epsirkhanov, Priscilla Mangel, Yusuf Cinar, Brahim Chnina, Nabil Boudaoud and Ismael Gamaev sitting during the trial
Phone records prove that Anzorov, Paty’s killer, was in regular phone contact with Chnina and traveled 60 miles to murder his victim before police shot him dead.
Chnina is being tried along with six other defendants, including Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a 65-year-old French-Moroccan Islamist activist.
The two are said to have spread Zhora’s lies on social media with the aim, according to the prosecution, of “designating a target” and “provoking a feeling of hatred.”
Both defendants insist they were seeking “administrative sanctions” against Paty, not violence.
Paty has been hailed by the current French administration as a hero of freedom of expression.
He had shown the Charlie Hebdo cartoons to students as part of an ethics class about the 2015 terrorist attack on the magazine’s offices, in which two police officers were also killed.
Seven men and one woman appear before the Special Criminal Court in Paris, in a trial that will last until December 20.