An investigation has been launched following the disturbing incidents that followed. As reported by the newspaper Le Figaro on Sunday June 19, a senior teacher (CPE) at the Lycée Charlemagne in the fourth arrondissement of Paris was threatened with death. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office has therefore filed a complaint to clarify the circumstances of these threats, which occurred after an altercation with a student who refused to remove her headscarf to take part in a baccalaureate examination.
On Thursday June 16, a girl from a Parisian high school went to the Lycée Charlemagne for the French baccalaureate exam. She allegedly refused to remove her headscarf, thus preventing the identity check that is usually carried out before candidates enter the examination room. She insisted on wearing her headscarf “despite several reminders of the law (of 2004 on the wearing of religious symbols at school, ed.) by the staff of the education office who were present at the reception of the examination”, as reported by Le Figaro. The pupil is said to have finally given in after what was perceived as a “tense” exchange with the CPE.
The situation subsequently escalated on Twitter. An internet user who claimed to be a relative of the veiled girl accused the education ministry official of being “Islamophobic” after she committed “unacceptable” acts of “outrageous viciousness”. He then deleted his tweets and later his account, Le Figaro reported. However, the comments persisted: ” Throw away the teacher’s name and photo “, ” What a whore is this teacher “… Death threats were also made. The situation is dangerously reminiscent of the Samuel Paty case. The teacher was criticised for showing caricatures of Mohammed in class. In October 2020, he was beheaded by an Islamist in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine after his identity was posted on social networks.
An investigation was therefore opened for “death threats”, “online bullying” and “endangering the lives of others by spreading information about private lives”, the Paris prosecutor’s office told Le Figaro. The Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH) is in charge of the investigation. The Academy of Paris condemned the death threats and offered the headmistress “its full support”. The authority had, moreover, “immediately taken all the necessary precautions” to ensure security at the Lycée Charlemagne for the rest of the baccalaureate examinations.
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