French student lied about beheaded teacher showing Muhammad caricature
Samuel Paty's alleged showing of the caricature is suspected to have led to his murder.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA man waves a French national flag during a silent march to pay tribute to Samuel Paty, the French teacher who was beheaded on the streets of the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France, October 20, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/LUCIEN LIBERT)
A 13-year-old French school girl has admitted to lying about her teacher asking Muslim students to leave class before showing a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, the Independent reported.The student said she lied in order to please her father and did not attend the class in which she claimed the picture was alleged to have been shown.The teacher, Samuel Paty, was later beheaded. The attacker, an 18-year old who was born in Russia, was shot dead by a police patrol a few streets away from the scene of the attack, in a residential suburb northwest of Paris.A photograph of the teacher's body, accompanied by a message claiming responsibility posted on Twitter, was discovered on the assailant's phone, found near his body. Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said the Twitter account belonged to the attacker.The girl's lawyer Mbeko Tabula has said she was off on that day and did not attend the class, AFP reported.“She lied because she felt trapped in a spiral, because her classmates had asked her to be a spokesperson,” he said.The report went on to cite French newspaper Le Parisien, which stated that she wanted to prevent her father from knowing she was suspended for many absences from previous classes.Based on the girl's story, her father posted a video online in which he urged users to complain to the authorities and get the teacher removed from his post.Reuters contributed this report.
