The attack in France. What is known about the beheaded victim, the attacker, the motives for the crime and how Macron reacted



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TO UPDATE Nine People were detained in connection with the attack on Saturday. Among them are a minor and the father of a girl who expressed outrage after the teacher presented cartoons with the Prophet Muhammad.

French police went on alert around 5 p.m. local time on Friday after local police officers reported to national police structures that a headless body had been found near a school in the Confland-Saint-Honorine area. Northwestern suburb of Paris.

What happened

A man attacked and beheaded the master whose name had not yet appeared in the French press with a large kitchen knife. A police source said several witnesses heard the attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar” during the attack, according to Reuters. Immediately after committing the crime, the attacker fled the crime scene. However, the local police, alerted by the locals, quickly arrived in the area and managed to catch the attacker in Eragny, a neighboring neighborhood. They summoned him to surrender, but he refused and began threatening the police, who shot him and died shortly after.

Both the crime scene and the location where the murderer was captured and shot by police are currently closed for investigation. Four people, including a minor, were arrested, according to a judicial source cited by AFP, all related to the attacker.

Who is the victim

According to information obtained by the international press, the victim is a 47-year-old geography and history professor who also taught “moral and civic education.” During a class on this topic, she spoke with her students, ages 12 to 14, about freedom of expression. During the discussion, the teacher showed them some of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in Charlie Hebdo magazine. According to some parents, the teacher told the Muslim students, before showing the photos, to leave the room if they were offended.

Earlier this month, after the teacher showed the students the Muhammad cartoons, several Muslim parents complained to the school leadership about the teacher’s decision, and a very nervous parent posted a video on YouTube criticizing him. Teacher. According to The Guardian, on Friday night, after the attack, another parent commented on the respective video on YouTube, saying: “I am the father of a student at this school. The teacher only showed the cartoons posted on Charlie Hebdo in a lesson on free speech. He told the Muslim students that they could leave the room if they wanted, out of respect for them. He was an extraordinary teacher. He tried to foster the critical spirit of his students, always with respect and intelligence. Tonight, I am sad for my daughter, but also for all the teachers in France. Can we continue teaching without fear of being killed? “

Who is the attacker

According to French media, the suspect is a young man born in Moscow, identified as Abdulah A., of Chechen origin, aged 18. He was not on any French police list for having links to any terrorist network. According to Le Parisien, he only had a criminal record for minor offenses, common law. Immediately after the master’s beheading, the assassin claimed his act on Twitter, posting a photo of the beheaded victim with the description “To Macron, the head of the infidels, I executed one of your dogs, who dared to desecrate Mohammed “. The account was suspended shortly after the publication of this post.

Macron’s reaction

Emmanuel Macron, who arrived urgently at the attack area and with a visibly affected figure, was blunt in his statements. “One of our compatriots was killed today because he was teaching others. He taught his students about freedom of speech, freedom to believe or not believe. It was a malicious attack. He is the victim of an Islamist terrorist attack,” he said, adding that the murderer sought “to attack the republic and its values.” “This is our battle and it is existential. The terrorists will not triumph, they will not divide us,” proclaimed the French president.

In the context of growing French public concern about Islamist extremism, Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this month in a highly anticipated speech by French citizens that a minority of the roughly six million Muslims on the territory of France are about to form a “counter-society”. To combat this and uphold the secular values ​​of the republic, Macron proposed a series of new regulations, such as stricter supervision of the process of educating Muslims in the French system or control of external financing of Muslim places of worship.

The Elysee Palace has announced that a national tribute will be paid to the professor, with a date to be specified.

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