Muslim father who organized ‘hate campaign’ that led to teacher Samuel Paty’s beheading says ‘I’m sorry it went badly’ and says he ‘defended my daughter’ whose lies led to tragic murder
The Muslim father who allegedly organized an online hate campaign against a French teacher before he was beheaded in the street outside his school has said ‘I’m sorry it went badly’.
Brahim Chnina, a 52-year-old Moroccan national, faces 30 years in prison if found guilty of playing a role in the murder of Samuel Paty, 47.
Mr Paty was killed outside his school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris, on October 16, 2020, by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Chechen migrant to France.
Anzorov had seen photos and videos claiming that Paty was promoting cartoons from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that mocked the Prophet Mohammed. He was shot dead by police minutes after the attack.
Chnina is said to have organized a cyberbullying campaign after his 13-year-old daughter falsely claimed to have been in one of Mr Paty’s classes and Muslim students were asked to leave before the cartoons were shown.
Under cross-examination during his trial for terrorist criminal association at a special court at the Palais de Justice in central Paris, Chnina said on Monday: “As far as I am concerned, I am infinitely sorry for what I did.
‘I regret it very much. I am not a terrorist and I am not part of a terrorist criminal association. It’s true that I made a video and I’m sorry it turned out badly.’
Defendant Brahim Chnina sits during the trial of eight adults accused of contributing to the climate of hatred that led to the 2020 beheading of an 18-year-old Islamist radical, teacher Samuel Paty, on November 4
History and geography teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded outside a school near Paris
Chnina is said to have organized a cyberbullying campaign after his 13-year-old daughter falsely claimed she had been in one of Mr Paty’s classes
Paty was violently stabbed to death and then beheaded by 18-year-old Chechen refugee Abdoullakh Anzorov on October 16, 2020
The trial of eight people accused of encouraging Anzorov began last month. The court will hear how a schoolgirl’s lie spiraled out of control on social media, sparking an international hate campaign that led to Paty’s brutal murder.
Two of the suspects are accused of calling Mr Paty a “blasphemer” via the internet.
Two are also said to have provided logistical assistance to Anzorov, and four others are said to have offered help via chatlines.
Chnina emphasized that he was not an extremist, saying today: “I am not a radical. My religious practice is like that of all Muslims in France. I try to pray every day. My children have the choice to pray or not.”
Chnina, who has been in custody for the past four years, admitted telling people that Paty had “bragged” about his support for Charlie Hebdo.
Ten people from the magazine, including four cartoonists, were murdered in Paris by Al Qaeda terrorists in January 2015.
“Unfortunately, I passed on the message my daughter told me,” Chnina said.
“I understood that Mr. Paty wanted all the students to support Charlie.”
Chnina’s daughter cannot be fully identified for legal reasons and is referred to in court under the pseudonym Zhora.
Last week, Zhora admitted she had lied and apologized to Mr Paty’s family. She said, ‘I’m sorry I ruined your life.’
The schoolgirl was given an 18-month suspended sentence last year over the defamatory allegations she made against Paty.
When asked what his relationship was with his daughter, Chnina said: “Just like any father with his children. I have a boy and six girls. They are all in my heart. She had no particular problems.
“I know children can lie, but there have never been any real problems.”
Recalling the events leading up to the attack on Mr Paty, Chnina said: “My daughter told me about the discrimination, the caricatures. I heard she was kicked out of class.
“I was stupid and foolish to post on social media. I just wanted to defend my daughter. I don’t know what possessed me to post that on social media.”
‘It’s the first time I talk about my daughter on social media. I sent a first message, a second, without including Mr Paty’s or the school’s contact details. ‘Someone called me for the contact details of the teacher and the school. I made the unforgivable mistake of providing the teacher and school contact details.”
Chnina admitted that Paty was a ‘criminal’ and ‘sick’.
This court sketch, created and published on November 4, 2024, shows (L-R) defendants Brahim Chnina, Nabil Boudaoud and Ismael Gamaev seated during the trial
Hundreds of people gather in Republique Square during a demonstration on Sunday, October 18, 2020 in Paris in support of freedom of expression and to pay tribute to a French history teacher who was beheaded near Paris
People stand in front of flowers and candles next to a sign reading “I am a teacher, I am Samuel” at the entrance of a secondary school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 30 km northwest of Paris, on October 17, 2020, after Paty was beheaded
(L-R) defendants Abdelhakim Sefrioui, Louqmane Ingar, Azim Epsirkhanov, Priscilla Mangel, Yusuf Cinar, Brahim Chnina, Nabil Boudaoud and Ismael Gamaev sit during the trial
Phone records show that Anzorov, Paty’s killer, had regular telephone contact with Chnina and had traveled 90 kilometers to kill his victim before he himself was shot dead by police.
Chnina is on trial along with six other suspects, including Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a 65-year-old French-Moroccan Islamist activist.
Both allegedly spread Zhora’s lies on social networks with the aim, according to the prosecutor, of “designating a target” and “provoking a feeling of hatred.”
Both defendants insist they were seeking “administrative sanctions” against Paty, not violence.
Mr Paty is hailed as a hero of free speech by the current French government.
He had shown Charlie Hebdo’s caricatures to students as part of an ethics lesson about the 2015 terror attack on the magazine’s offices, in which two police officers were also killed.
Seven men and one woman will appear before the Special Assize Court in Paris, in a trial that will last until December 20.