An appeal trial has opened in Paris for four men convicted in connection with the 2020 jihadist killing of teacher Samuel Paty, a murder that shook France and drew global attention.
Paty, 47, was beheaded in October 2020 by an 18-year-old Islamist extremist of Chechen origin, Abdoullakh Anzorov, after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a classroom discussion. Anzorov was subsequently killed in a shootout with police.
In December 2024, a French court found seven men and one woman guilty of contributing to the climate of hatred that led to Paty’s murder in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a suburb west of Paris. Four of the men are now appealing their sentences, which ranged from 13 to 16 years in prison.
Among those appealing are Naim Boudaoud, a French national, and Azim Epsirkhanov, a Russian of Chechen origin, who were convicted of complicity in the killing and sentenced to 16 years. Prosecutors in the first trial accused them of providing logistical support to Anzorov, including help to acquire weapons.
Two other defendants, convicted of involvement in a “terrorist” criminal association for their role in promoting a campaign of hatred against Paty, have also lodged appeals against their sentences.
Brahim Chnina, the Moroccan father of a schoolgirl who falsely claimed Paty asked Muslim students to leave the classroom before showing the caricatures, was sentenced to 13 years. His daughter, then 13, was not present in the classroom at the time and later apologized to Paty’s family during the initial trial.
The appeals process marks the next chapter in a case that remains one of the most high-profile terrorism trials in recent French history, underscoring ongoing debates about radicalisation, social media influence, and accountability in acts of extremist violence.
