Paris (AFP)

Why ?

With what direct or indirect complicity?

Four days after the facts, the investigators focus on the circumstances of the death of the history and geography professor Samuel Paty, brutally murdered in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines), where a white march is scheduled for Tuesday at the end of the day. -midday.

About fifteen people were in police custody Monday, including four college students, investigators trying to understand their involvement while the teacher was "designated" to the assailant by "one or more college students, a priori for remuneration", according to a source close to the case.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wants to act quickly on his side, and announced on Monday that he had asked the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis to close the Pantin mosque, who had notably relayed on his Facebook page a video denouncing the course on Samuel Paty's caricatures of Mahomet.

Mr. Darmanin specified that 51 associations close to "radical Islamism" were in the crosshairs of the authorities and announced that several of them will be dissolved in the Council of Ministers, citing the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF). and the humanitarian association BarakaCity.

BakaraCity has already announced that it will challenge such a measure in court, while the CCIF has firmly rejected any relay of the messages that circulated concerning Mr. Paty before his assassination.

The two associations firmly deny any extremist leanings.

"Madness seizes the Minister of the Interior who, failing to find anything against our NGO, takes advantage of the emotion aroused following the tragedy of Conflans," BarakaCity replied on Facebook.

Tuesday morning, the French bosses of the major social networks and platforms (Facebook Twitter, Google, Tiktok and Snapchat) are summoned by the Minister for Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa, to find ways to better counter "cyber-Islamism".

- Tributes continue -

In the meantime, the tributes continue in memory of Mr. Paty, a white march being organized Tuesday in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine from 6.30 p.m., in front of the college where he taught before joining the place of freedom.

On Wednesday, a national tribute will be paid to him in the Court of the Sorbonne in the presence of the Head of State.

In the town, parents, elected officials or ordinary citizens of all generations spontaneously came to pay homage throughout the weekend to the teacher by placing flowers or messages in front of the school establishment.

Among the inhabitants, some remain traumatized by the assassination of the professor, like Stéphane, who almost witnessed the attack, which took place about forty meters from his home.

"The assailant was just behind the wall, 40 meters from my grandchildren, and my children," he told LCI, initially believing that the victim was a member of his family: ' I had to go back to the crime scene twice to find out if it was not my grand-nephew. "

Gathered in the afternoon in front of the college, imams expressed their "anger" and their "shame", believing that it was "very important to come here to show our sorrow, to show that what happened here is not Islam. It is the act of thugs who have nothing to do with Islam ", declared Kemadou Gassama, imam in Paris.

The European Parliament also observed a minute's silence while the Paris Special Assize Court, where 14 people are tried in connection with the January 2015 attacks, paid tribute to the history and geography professor.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people had already gathered throughout France to defend freedom of expression and say no to "obscurantism".

© 2020 AFP