Trial Begins for Six Teens Accused of Aiding in French Teacher's Beheading

The teenagers are charged with identifying Samuel Paty to his killer in 2020, after Paty showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a class on freedom of expression.

Six teenagers are on trial in Paris, accused of aiding the 2020 beheading of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty, who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class discussion on freedom of expression and secularism.
Five of the accused, who were between the ages of 14 and 15 at the time, are charged with identifying Paty to the killer, Abdoullakh Anzorov, a Chechen refugee and Islamic extremist, in exchange for promised payments.
The youngest suspect, a 13-year-old girl, is accused of falsely claiming that Paty had asked Muslim students to leave the classroom before he showed the cartoons, a lie that led to her father's social media campaign against Paty, which prosecutors believe inspired Anzorov.
The trial, which is closed to the media and the public due to French laws regarding minors, is scheduled to end on Dec. 8. If convicted, the teenagers could face up to two and a half years in prison.
Eight adults, including the girl's father and two of Anzorov's friends, will face a separate trial next year in connection to Paty's killing.

South China Morning Post