France: A 12-year-old pupil denounces the hanging of caricatures of Mohammed by Samuel Paty on the occasion of the minute of silence dedicated to the teacher and then accuses her teacher of racism

A teenager laughing during the tribute to Samuel Paty. A family man accusing his English teacher of racism. The famous Mohammed cartoons making a comeback.

This explosive cocktail led to a 45-year-old man and a teacher appearing before the Versailles Criminal Court on Tuesday January 3, 2023.

On October 17 last year, the pupils of the Collège Debussy in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines) were called to a minute’s silence at around 10 am. Sixty seconds in honour of Samuel Paty, the teacher who was murdered on October 16, 2020. About ten kilometres away.

At the appointed time, the teachers open the classroom doors and ask the pupils to be quiet. Some ask: Why? In her 5th grade class, the teacher answers that Samuel Paty was killed because he showed Mohammed cartoons. “He had no right to do that,” interjects a 12-year-old pupil. The minute begins. The young adolescent starts laughing. She is sent straight to her guidance counsellor.

Everything goes off the rails when the girl’s father interferes. The teenager distorts the narrative of events. She even claims that her teacher is racist and discriminatory towards “Arabs and blacks”. When they raise their hands, they are not quizzed”. She would also indoctrinate the class.

I think there was a complete misunderstanding. My daughter told me that her teacher had railed against her. And she didn’t tell me things. I interpreted it as a form of racism and discrimination against North Africans. This communication was not meant to harm the teacher or the college. It was a letter from a father who needed help in the face of his daughter crying.

The father of the family said in court.

78Actu / https://www.fdesouche.com/2023/01/04/saint-germain-en-laye-78-une-collegienne-de-12-ans-denonce-laffichage-des-caricatures-de-mahomet-par-samuel-paty-lors-de-la-minute-de-silence-dediee-au-professeur-puis-accuse-sa-professeure/