Thousands of French gathered today in Republic Square in Paris and other French cities to show solidarity with history professor Samuel Batey, who was killed last Friday by beheading at the hands of a Chechen refugee in a suburb of Paris, while security sources revealed that 11 people have been arrested so far as part of the investigations into the murder file Patty.
Demonstrators in the Republic Square raised banners reading "No to the tyranny of thought" and "I am a professor" and quietly saluted this teacher who was killed by a student of Chechen origin because he showed his students cartoons insulting to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
"I am Samuel," "I am Samuel," and "Freedom of expression and freedom of teaching" chanted, amid prolonged applause from time to time, and some protesters waved the French flag, while others carried signs reading "I am a Muslim, I am against violence, I am for freedom of expression." .
Other gatherings were also held in large French cities, especially in Lyon (east) and Lille (north).
The police had announced that it would grant a license to teachers' unions and an anti-racism organization to organize the demonstration, although under the state of health alert in France due to the Coronavirus pandemic, gatherings of more than 10 people are not allowed.
A number of political figures participated in the Paris demonstration, including Prime Minister Jean Castex, the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, Valerie Piccress, president of the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris, and the leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Melanchon.
President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to hold a mini-meeting of the Defense Council this evening to discuss measures to protect schools and combat extremism.
Prosecution
The French public prosecutor in charge of working on terrorism files - Jean-Francois Ricard - said yesterday that the perpetrator (18 years) who killed Samuel Patti (47 years) is a Russian refugee of Chechen origin, and the crime occurred in broad daylight on a street in the Conflans Sainte area. Honorine. "
Prosecutor Ricard added that the perpetrator was not known for his extremism among the French intelligence services, and that he was present in the middle of the middle school in which Patty is studying, around midday on Friday, and he asked several students to guide him to the victim.
Ricard also confirmed that the examination of the attacker's phone led to the discovery of a letter in which he claimed the assassination of the teacher, and justified his crime by avenging the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, in addition to a picture of the victim's severed head, and he also found a pistol, 5 cartridges and a dagger.
The public prosecutor said that the perpetrator, who was killed by police fire after being wounded with 9 bullets, threatened the policemen with his dagger, then fired at them.
Following Friday's incident, statements were issued by French officials that the authorities would strengthen surveillance of so-called potential terrorists, and the French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan today recommended the deportation of 100 people who do not have residency documents, and are classified as militants, some of whom are imprisoned, and others are being sought by the security authorities.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Paris, Noureddine Bouziane, said that it is striking in today's demonstrations that they come two days before the official memorial service that President Emmanuel Macron will organize for the dead teacher next Wednesday.
Arrests
In a related context, the French police said that they had arrested another person today, bringing the number of detainees to 11 in the case of the killing of the history teacher.
In the hours following the attack, the security authorities arrested 4 relatives of the attacker, and 5 others were arrested, including the parent of a student at the school where the dead man was working, and a friend of him, and a tenth person was arrested later on Saturday.