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In France, another man was arrested after the fatal knife attack on a teacher near Paris. Demonstrations and rallies of solidarity for the victim are expected throughout the country in the afternoon.
After the brutal murder of a teacher near Paris, another person was arrested by the police. “He was a friend of the murderer,” confirmed the antiterrorist prosecutor of the dpa news agency.
Eleven people arrested
According to the authorities, a total of eleven people are now in police custody. The perpetrator was shot and killed by the police. Those arrested include people close to the perpetrator, as well as people who raised their spirits against the teacher.
He had covered the subject of freedom of expression in class and showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The occasion was the reissue of these cartoons in the satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo”. Islamic tradition forbids representing the prophet. That is why the father of a schoolgirl had mobilized against the teacher online.
So far, the prosecutor has not established a direct connection between the father and the aggressor. He lived in the city of Évreux, about 90 kilometers from the crime scene.
Anti-terrorist prosecutor investigates
Among other things, the brutal behavior of the aggressor led the prosecutor to assume a terrorist background. “The teacher was on his way home from work in the afternoon when he was attacked with a knife. He has been stabbed several times in the head, upper body and stomach. And he was beheaded,” said anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Francois. Ricard.
Following the crime, the attacker posted a photo of the dead man on social media in a Paris suburb and wrote that the 47-year-old had disparaged the prophet Muhammad.
President’s appeal
French President Emmanuel Macron previously spoke of a “cruel Islamist terror attack” when he visited the crime scene. “One of our fellow citizens was brutally murdered,” he said. The teacher taught his students what it means to believe or not to believe, Macron said.
The president met with the victim’s director shortly before his speech. He thanked him for upholding free speech and the doctrine of free speech through thick and thin. Just a few weeks ago, the president introduced a bill against the emergence of mainly Islamist parallel societies. Education and the school as an institution play a central role in this. Because in schools, Macron explained, the values of the republic are taught. Freedom of expression is one of the most important assets.
Solidarity demonstrations are expected
Numerous demonstrations are expected across the country this afternoon. At the Place de la République in Paris, among others, the satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” has called a rally.
It is a symbolic place: after the horror series in January 2015, which also included the attack on “Charlie Hebdo”, thousands of victims were commemorated there. Since then, the square has become a central place of sympathy after the terrorist attacks.
“Attack on the values of the republic”
The government has created a crisis team. Politicians from all parties reacted extremely concerned by the incident. The French National Assembly suspended its session and recalled the victim and his relatives.
The President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, wrote on Twitter: “The murder of a history teacher is an attack on freedom of expression and the values of the Republic. To attack a teacher is to attack all French citizens and the freedom”.
Von der Leyen: “Without a teacher there are no responsible citizens”
The Federal Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, and the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also condemned the deadly attack. “We must never be intimidated by terror, extremism and violence,” Maas wrote on Twitter.
Von der Leyen expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victim and emphasized the importance of teachers in a democracy. “My thoughts are also with the teachers, in France and throughout Europe. Without them there are no responsible citizens. Without them there is no democracy,” von der Leyen wrote.
With information from Sabine Wachs, ARD-Studio Paris
