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Decapitated man in a Paris suburb: four people in custody
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“Authorities assume a terrorist attack”
A man was beheaded in front of a school north of Paris. The authorities assume a terrorist motive. WELT correspondent Peter Heusch explains what is known so far about the perpetrators and the victims.
A man has been beheaded near Paris. The victim is a teacher who discussed cartoons of Muhammad with his students. President Macron speaks of a “clearly Islamist terrorist attack.”
northAfter the fatal attack on a teacher near Paris, four people were detained by the police. The detainees, including a minor, were from the family of the attacker, who was killed by police officers, reported Saturday night from judicial circles.
The bloody attack on a history professor in a Paris suburb was, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, a “clearly Islamist terrorist attack.” Macron said that Friday night near the crime scene. “One of our fellow citizens was killed today because he was teaching, because he taught the students freedom of expression, the freedom to believe and not to believe,” Macron said visibly ill.
The incident occurred in the Parisian suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday afternoon. The man was reportedly assaulted on the street and beheaded. The anti-terrorist prosecutor has taken over the investigation. The victim is reported to have shown cartoons of Muhammad in class. The alleged perpetrator was arrested by the police shortly afterwards in nearby Éragny. According to the media, he tried to attack the police, they shot him and killed him.
Various media outlets reported that the attacker was said to be an 18-year-old. It is said that he screamed “Allahu akbar” (“God is great”) and was armed with a kitchen knife. There was no official confirmation for this. The history teacher is said to have shown Muhammad cartoons on the subject of freedom of expression in class. Broadcaster BFM reported in a video that a schoolboy’s father is said to have posted on YouTube earlier this month. The video should also have been about the Mohammed cartoons.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the crime scene at night
What: REUTERS
Macron did not provide details on the course of the crime and referred to the prosecutor, who will comment in a few hours. “I call on all our compatriots to unite, to be united (…)”, said the President. Macron also did not comment on the alleged perpetrator or the victim. “He won’t get away with it,” he said, referring to the violence and terrorists.
“Islamism is waging war against us: we have to expel it from our country,” right-wing politician Marine Le Pen replied on Twitter. The Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, wrote in the network of an attack on the republic: “Our unity and determination are the only answer to the enormity of Islamist terrorism.” Attacking a teacher means attacking all French citizens and freedom, wrote the president of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, on Twitter.
Police officers secure the area near the crime scene
What: REUTERS
Just a few weeks ago there was a knife attack in front of the former editorial building of the satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” in Paris. Two people were injured; here too, investigators assume a terrorist background. In January 2015 there was a fatal attack on the editorial team of “Charlie Hebdo”. At the beginning of the trial, the magazine had republished cartoons of Muhammad and was seriously threatened. The author of the knife attack stated that he could not bear it.
Again and again Islamist attacks in France
At the same time, the trial of the alleged helpers of the terror series in January 2015, in which a total of 17 people died, has been taking place in Paris since the beginning of September. You can only enter the Palace of Justice in high security conditions. A verdict is expected in November. The editorial staff of “Charlie Hebdo” expressed their condolences to the relatives of the murdered teacher.
A man was beheaded in an Islamist-motivated attack in 2015. A 35-year-old man was overwhelmed while attempting to set off explosions at an industrial gas plant in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon. He had previously beheaded his employer and stuck his head out with two Islamist flags at the factory fence.
France has been rocked by Islamist attacks for years: more than 250 people died. Therefore, people are almost always aware of the threat of terrorism. The French government has made the fight against terrorism a top priority and continues to warn that the risk of terrorist attacks is very high.
