The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Tributes to beheaded teacher
The French prime minister joined demonstrators across the country yesterday who had rallied in tribute to a history teacher who was beheaded near Paris after discussing caricatures of Islam’ s Prophet Muhammad with his class.
The demonstrations came hours after US President Donald Trump sent France a message of solidarity in the wake of the attack.
Samuel Paty was beheaded on Friday in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine by an 18-year-old Moscowborn Chechen refugee who was shot dead by police.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex stood with demonstrators in Paris in support of freedom of speech and in memory of the 47-year-old teacher.
Some held placards reading “I am Samuel” that echoed the “I am Charlie” rallying cry after the 2015 attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
A moment’s silence was observed, broken by a rendition of the French national anthem.
Meanwhile, French authorities said they had detained an 11th person following the killing.
Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean- Francois Ricard said an investigation for murder with a suspected terrorist motive had been opened.
At least four of those detained were family members of the attacker, who had been granted 10year residency in France as a refugee in March, and who was armed with a knife and an airsoft gun, which fires plastic pellets.
Mr Ricard a text claiming responsibility and a picture of the victim were found on the suspect’s phone.
He also confirmed that a Twitter account belonging to the suspect posted a photo of the decapitated head after the attack, along with the message: “I have executed one of the dogs from hell who dared to put Muhammad down.”