on the trial of the assassination of Samuel Paty, the late apologies of the schoolgirl who lied | EUROtoday

It’sis an not possible train. Witnessing a trial if you end up on the origin of the lie which prompted the tragedy, attempting to exonerate those that, within the field, face between thirty years of imprisonment and life imprisonment, by saying you wish to assume all of the obligations with out saying the entire reality… Zohra (first title has been modified) is 17 years previous at this time. She was 13 when she lied twice, claiming that her historical past and geography instructor had discriminated in opposition to Muslim college students throughout a category she by no means attended.

In December 2023, she was sentenced to eighteen months of probation for “slanderous denunciation”. This trial having been held behind closed doorways, it’s the first time that Zohra testified overtly, this Tuesday, November 26, on the trial of adults suspected of being concerned within the assassination of Samuel Paty. When she steps as much as the stand, wearing a brief pleated skirt, her straight brown hair accented with a superbly tied white ribbon, one wonders if her mannequin schoolgirl outfit was consciously chosen. A number of meters from her, her father, Brahim Chnina, sits behind the window of the field and appears at her together with his everlasting dejected look.

ALSO READ At the trial for the assassination of Samuel Paty, a collective failureZohra takes the info in chronological order. The class taught by Samuel Paty on Monday October 5, 2020, which she attends and through which he warns his college students that he intends, the following day, to point out them caricatures that would shock. Her exclusion as a result of she asks questions with out elevating her hand and disrupts the category. His absence the following day, then his return to Bois d’Aulne school on Wednesday October 7. “Two girls in my class came to me saying that they had seen caricatures that shocked them, that the teacher had asked the Muslims to leave, and told me to say that I was in class,” assures the younger lady 4 years later. So, Zohra goes to seek out the CPE, claims that she was current and says she is “shocked” by what occurred at school. First lie.

“He asked me to tell my story”

The similar day, Zohra’s mom is knowledgeable that her daughter will likely be briefly excluded. If she didn’t bodily attend the appointment organized on the school, canceling it on the final second, the mom is nonetheless knowledgeable by a number of channels. It is made clear to him that these are issues linked to his daughter’s conduct. “At that point in my schooling, I was disrupting classes a bit,” Zohra admits half-heartedly. But when her mom calls her on Wednesday to inquire concerning the causes for her exclusion, {the teenager} prefers to inform her mom that she was excluded after having “suffered discrimination” and thus keep away from reprimands. “Under panic and stress, I told him that we had seen the caricatures, that I did not agree and that I had been excluded,” says Zohra. Second lie.

At the identical time, the infernal cabal is about in movement. Brahim Chnina begins sending messages to his whole community of associations to denounce the truth that his daughter’s instructor, whom he describes as a “thug”, confirmed “the naked prophet” at school, and requested Muslim college students to exit. Islamist activist Abdelhakim Sefrioui got here throughout the messages and instantly contacted him. “The next day, when I left school, my dad was there with a gentleman who introduced himself as a journalist and he asked me to tell my story,” Zohra says on the stand. She repeats the lie, this time filmed by Sefrioui.

The younger lady, now a last yr scholar, nonetheless explains how her father discovered her “saddened” on Thursday night in her room. “As I was feeling unwell, he suggested that I go and file a complaint,” she mentioned, her eyes boring into the bottom. Her unhappiness, linked to the truth that she lied to her dad and mom, she assures, doesn’t forestall her from agreeing to go to the police station. In entrance of the police officer who receives her, Zohra will, as soon as once more, repeat her lie.

“Finally, someone will stop me”

Faced with the dimensions of the affair, the principal decides to summon Zohra on Monday, October 12. The day earlier than, Abdelhakim Sefrioui printed his video on YouTube, three days after the one already shared by Zohra’s father. In the headteacher’s workplace, the younger lady talks concerning the discrimination she allegedly skilled. “When I entered the principal’s house, I said to myself, ‘finally, someone is going to stop me.’ I came out, but she didn’t tell me about my lie. He held on and everyone believed me,” she mentioned on the stand.

At the top of the week, Zohra serves her two days of exclusion. So she was not there on Friday, October 16 when a boy from one other fourth grade class referred to as her to ask her to inform his story. His comrade is at that second alongside a “gentleman”, slightly older than them. It is a sure Abdoullakh Anzorov. “He says to me “trust me” and asks me to inform the story. I speak to him concerning the course, concerning the caricatures, about asking Muslims to depart…” Barely an hour later, Samuel Paty was beheaded by Anzorov. Sentenced by the youngsters’s courtroom, his pal swore he warned Zohra that he was not alone throughout this name. “I didn’t know,” she defends herself on the stand.

About-face?

The lady’s voice is now slightly weaker: “I couldn’t do it well a year ago at my audience, but I would like to apologize to the family, I destroyed your life. » She also apologizes to the teachers for her “behavior” and to the people in the box. “If it wasn’t for my lie, we wouldn’t all be here. » But it was when talking about his family that his voice broke: “I wanted to apologize to my father. If he made a video, it’s because of my lie. »

Apologies which surprise the lawyer of part of Samuel Paty’s family. “I don’t know what the family will do with this apology. But they will have no value if there is no authenticity in your answers,” says M^e Virginie Leroy, who highlights Zohra’s “about-face” in relation to the trial held 11 months ago and at the end of which the young girl’s lawyers pleaded for acquittal, attributing the beheading to the hate campaign launched by his father and Abdelhakim Sefrioui.

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Answer

“Today you explain to us that everything is your fault. What has changed? » asks the lawyer. The girl’s features stiffen. Anxious to protect her father, who faces thirty years of criminal imprisonment, Zohra will constantly repeat that he was not capable of knowing that she was lying, wanting to protect him at all costs. “I took advantage of his naivety and his kindness,” she insists.

Before that, the president of the courtroom had identified to Zohra that after the tragedy it had taken her one other month and thirty hours in police custody to interrupt down and admit that she had lied. Even at this time, her place is ambiguous relating to the primary course taught by Samuel Paty, the one she attended. In courtroom, she maintains that the instructor warned that he would present pictures that would shock and that Muslim college students could be allowed to depart. Some extent denied a number of occasions, leaving doubt of one more lie.