[Global Times reporter Hong Meng, Liu Haoran, Liu Yupeng] In January 2015, the headquarters of the French caricature "Charlie Hebdo" was bloodbathed by extremists, causing 12 deaths and causing a sensation in the world.
Unexpectedly, a terrible tragedy occurred after more than 5 years. A French teacher was killed and beheaded in the street by an assailant for citing the content of the magazine to teach.
Some of the issues reflected in this vicious case, including controversial teaching content, the "catalyst" role of social media to fuel the flames, and the worrisome situation of law and order in France, have all attracted attention.
The picture shows the street near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Yang
The murderer posted a post to show off after committing a crime in the street
According to a report from the Associated Press on the 18th, at about 5 pm local time on the 16th, Samuel Patty, a 47-year-old middle school history teacher in Paris, returned home from get off work as usual, but he did not know that he was in danger.
The 18-year-old assailant Abdulrah Anzorov carries a 35 cm long blade and has been waiting for a long time outside the school where he teaches.
After confirming the identity of the target with several students, the murderer followed Patty who was alone, and then attacked in the suburbs of northwest Paris.
He hacked the victim's head, abdomen and arms several times, cut off the opponent and then cut off his head, and took photos on Twitter to show off: "In the name of Allah, I executed a dare Hellhound that offends Muhammad."
A few minutes later, Anzorov was surrounded by police near the scene of the assault. He took a "gun" and shot at the police and was shot dead in the street.
It was later confirmed that the "gun" he was carrying was just a toy air gun.
In his cell phone, the police also found a text claiming responsibility for Patty's death.
The Paris police quickly opened a case for investigation. As of the 18th, a total of 11 suspects were detained, including 5 relatives of the murderer.
This bloody incident caused a lot of panic in the local area. Some parents said: "My daughter is terrified. How can I explain this to her?"
On January 7, 2020 local time, France commemorated the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack of "Charlie Hebdo".
A mural created by graffiti artist Christian Quimi is placed on the street corner. This mural depicts the victims of the attack.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Yang
The murder caused by a class
The British "Guardian" stated that Patty's murder was caused by a controversial moral education class earlier this month.
During the class, Patty talked about the topic of freedom of speech, and showed the students in the class "Charlie Hebdo" caricatures about the prophet Muhammad, including a nude caricature of the prophet.
Although Patty’s reputation has always been good, this class has triggered strong protests from some parents. For this reason, the school specially invited parents to discuss the matter. Participants also included teachers involved, school principals and education department officials.
However, the situation did not calm down: the father of a girl in the class was particularly concerned about the incident. Instead of participating in the school's mediation, he posted videos on social media one after another, urging Patty to be dismissed.
In the video, he not only specified the school name and address, but also fully exposed the identity of the teacher involved.
On October 12, the parent uploaded the video again. This time he also invited another man to do a "voice-over." The latter went online in the video and accused President Macron of "inciting hatred against the Muslim community." They threatened to organize protest demonstrations if Patty was not expelled.
After these videos were released, the school involved received threats on many occasions.
After investigation, the "voice-over" man was a "dangerous person". He was included in the list of surveillance targets by the French intelligence agency.
After the tragedy, the parent was arrested along with the "voice-over" man.
The British "Times" believes that the "hate propaganda" of the parents involved directly led to the subsequent beheading tragedy; the police also believe that the murderer's killing of Patty was incited by the video content.
Data map: French President Macron.
Intelligence department neglects control
French President Macron denounced this "cowardly attack", claiming that Patty was a "victim of a terrorist attack" and that Patty was killed because of "teaching the principles of freedom of speech and freedom of religion."
Macron also said that the state will protect and defend the teaching community.
After the tragedy, French social media responded strongly, and the people mourned one after another. The hashtag "We are all Samuel" appeared on hot searches.
In the next period of time, many cities including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nantes and Toulouse will hold corresponding public gatherings.
French Minister of Education Blanche announced that the authorities will hold a state funeral and a nationwide mourning for Patty on the 21st.
French anti-terrorism prosecutor Ricard said that the tragic death of teacher Patty fully shows that the country is still facing a “considerable degree of terrorism” threat.
According to official data, there are currently about 20,000 dangerous elements on the "National Security Risk List" of the French intelligence agency, but only a small part of them are under substantial supervision by the authorities.
According to Reuters, the murderer Anzorov is a Chechen refugee, and the size of this group in France is about 67,000.
Due to language barriers and lack of translation, the "Chechen community" almost "exists as transparent" in the French intelligence services.
On the other hand, although Anzorov did not “offend” less before, the police have not “filed” him because he is too young.
Russian diplomat responds to beheading case
The Russian news agency TASS reported that the 18-year-old Chechen Anzorov killed the French teacher.
He was born in Moscow.
Palinov, the press officer of the Russian Embassy in France, said that Anzorov came to France with his family in 2008 and applied for refugee status. He has been living in France legally for the past 12 years. After obtaining political refugee status, the Russian citizen His identity is lost. What matters is not his birthplace, but where he embarked on the path of terrorism.
Russia has consistently condemned all forms of terrorism.
RIA Novosti said on the 18th that Chechen Chief Executive Kadyrov stated that the people of Chechen had nothing to do with the murder of teachers in France.
Kadyrov also said: "I condemn this terrorist act and express my condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased. I firmly oppose terrorism in any form. I also urge not to irritate believers or hurt their religious feelings."