The
teacher had shown his pupils caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad
in a class on freedom of expression, angering some Muslim
parents. Most Muslims avoid depictions of prophets, considering
them to be blasphemous.
Among those on trial was a teenage girl who had allegedly told
her parents that Paty had asked Muslim pupils to leave the room
before showing the caricatures.
The court found her guilty of having made false accusation
charges and slanderous comments, as it was established that she
was not in the class at the time.
The other adolescents were found guilty of charges related to
taking part in a pre-meditated criminal conspiracy and helping
to prepare an ambush.
Paty, 47, was killed outside his school in a Paris suburb by an
18-year-old assailant of Chechen origin, who was shot dead by
police soon after the attack.
The court found those adolescents as guilty of having pointed
out Paty to the murderer.
Louis Cailliez, lawyer for Paty's sister Mickaelle, told
reporters his client was "satisfied with the full conviction",
but less so with the sentences, that she found "too lenient".
Dylan Slama, a lawyer for one of the teenagers, said that though
it was hard to talk about satisfaction in such tragic
circumstances, there was a sense of relief for his client.
The heaviest sentence was given to an adolescent who was
formally given a 6-month prison sentence, although he should be
able to serve this at home while under electronic surveillance.
The girl who was found guilty of making false accusations and
slanderous comments was given an 18-month suspended sentence and
put on probation measures for two years.
All six teenagers' suspended sentences are tied to them
following a strict set of probation measures for two to three
years.
Another trial in connection with Paty's killing, involving
adults this time, is set to take place at the end of next year.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro and Clotaire Achi; Writing by
Dominique Vidalon;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and David Gregorio)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|