The suspect in the murder of a history and geography teacher at Conflans-Saint-Honorine College had refugee status and was unknown to the special services.

The head of the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office Jean-François Ricard spoke about this at a press conference. 

According to him, the attacker neutralized by the special services was born in Moscow in 2002 and is a Russian of Chechen origin.

Ricard added that the suspect "had a residence permit issued on March 4 last year."

The head of the press service of the Russian Embassy in France, Sergei Parinov, commenting on this information, said that the alleged offender "had nothing to do with Russia," as he had been in France for 12 years since his family was accepted by the French side.

He confirmed that the suspect, Abdulakh Anzorov, is of Chechen origin.

“This man entered France with his family in 2008, at the age of six.

Here the family asked for political asylum, they lived on the basis of a long-term residence permit, Anzorov himself received his own residence permit upon reaching the age of majority this year, ”TASS quoted Parinov as saying.

Parinov added that the man had no contact with the embassy, ​​noting that Anzorov had lived in France for 12 years.

“In this case, the important thing is not where the person was born, but where, when and why he began to profess the terrorist ideology, which Russia always, of course, condemns in all its manifestations,” the diplomat emphasized.

In a commentary on RT, Parinov noted that employees contacted colleagues from the French Ministry of the Interior to stay in touch.

According to him, this contact will remain in the future. 

“Since this tragedy took place in France, it is up to us to identify the terrorist, and we have no opportunity to investigate here.

At a press conference recently given by the republican prosecutor, the Russian origin of the attacker and his family was confirmed, ”he said.

Previously, the identity of the alleged offender was reported by the French media.

In particular, the BFM TV channel reported that the man who beheaded teacher Samuel Pati is an 18-year-old native of Chechnya.

In turn, Figaro, citing a source in law enforcement agencies, reported that the criminal was Abdulakh Anzorov, who was born in Moscow and has Chechen roots.

The murder of the teacher took place the day before in the Paris suburb of Evreux.

According to preliminary data, a man armed with a knife attacked the man while shouting Islamist slogans, after which he beheaded the victim.

According to Figaro, after the murder, the offender tried to escape, but he was noticed by special forces.

The police arrived at the scene and shot the attacker.

According to French media reports, the deceased teacher, giving students a lecture on freedom of speech, showed them images of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

After that, according to unconfirmed reports, threats began to arrive.

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Jean-Francois Ricard also said that nine people were detained on the fact of the incident.

All of them, the head of the prosecutor's office specified, were taken into custody.

Ricard said that the four detainees are close relatives of the attacker.

In addition, the detainees included the father of one of the students who complained about the teacher, as well as his wife.

It is reported that the man was previously known to law enforcement agencies.

According to the head of the prosecutor's office, quoted by RIA Novosti, the man's half-sister joined the Islamic State * terrorist group in Syria in 2014.

The father of one of the college students where the deceased professor taught, told what happened during a lecture in which the students were shown cartoons of the prophet.

  • Comments of parents of students of the deceased

French President Emmanuel Macron, who arrived at the scene, called the incident a terrorist attack. 

“One of our fellow citizens was killed today because he taught, because he taught students freedom of speech, freedom to believe and not to believe,” Le Monde quotes him.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, expressed condolences to the family of the murdered teacher.

“I express my condolences to his family and the French.

My thoughts are also with teachers in France and throughout Europe.

There are no citizens without them.

There is no democracy without them, ”she wrote on Twitter.

Lawyer Samya Maktouf told RT France that the attack took place during the trial of the attack on the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo.

“This is a new terrorist attack directed against our institutions, while the trial of the attack on Charlie Hebdo is ongoing, when they tried to silence our journalists.

Journalists, policemen, fellow citizens of the Jewish faith were killed ... From my point of view, the most necessary and urgent measure today is to raise awareness or, perhaps even greater than before, an increase in consciousness in relation to this barbarism, which embodies itself, manifests itself in our institutes, ”she said.

Recall that in 2015 in France there was also an attack related to the demonstration of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.

On January 7, terrorists opened fire on the staff of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which posted similar material.

As a result of the terrorist attack, 12 people were killed and 11 were injured.

On September 2, hearings began on the attack on the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo.

In total, 14 people will appear before the court - 13 men and one woman.

* "Islamic State" (IS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.