French leaders are holding a day of commemoration in Paris on Saturday to memorialize Samuel Paty, the schoolteacher who was killed one 12 months in the past after a lesson he taught on free speech included highlighting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The French authorities unveiled a plaque on the Education Ministry in Paty’s honor, and within the night a a sq. reverse the Sorbonne University within the capital’s Latin Quarter will probably be renamed after Paty in a ceremony that the Paris mayor’s workplace has described as “simple and contemplative.”
French Prime Minister Jean Castex mentioned, “Here is a man who wanted to do his job, a demanding and sometimes thankless job, a man who only aspired to transmit the values of freedom, secularism, tolerance, free will.”
The household deliberate to satisfy with President Emmanuel Macron on the Elysee Palace on Saturday.
Other commemorations are anticipated to happen within the quiet suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, the place Paty taught historical past and geography, and close to his residence. A mural and a statue will commemorate Paty in these places.
Who was Samuel Paty?
The 47-year-old instructor was stabbed after which beheaded on the night of October 16, 2020 by Abdullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old with Russian-Chechen roots, after leaving the center faculty the place he taught. Anzorov, who was later shot lifeless by French safety companies, claimed the assault was revenge.
Paty’s lesson on free speech had upset some mother and father and set off an internet firestorm, which snowballed right into a debate characterised by rumors and disinformation that always distorted the character of the lesson.
His demise surprised France and French educators, who’ve lengthy emphasised France’s formally secular values. Tens of 1000’s joined nationwide rallies in assist of free speech, together with the liberty to blaspheme.
President Macron, nevertheless, sparked a backlash in some Muslim international locations — together with Libya, Tunisia and Turkey— when he declared the nation “will not give up cartoons.”
The investigation into Paty’s demise stays open.
What different actions have been taken to recollect Paty?
On Friday, colleges paused for a minute of silence to recollect Paty. Teachers devoted their classes to his reminiscence.
Schools in at the very least three French cities have been named after Paty, together with a faculty within the various jap Paris suburb of Valenton.
“We will not forget Samuel Paty,” mentioned Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer on a go to to a highschool in Paris on Friday.
