The German government is expressing solidarity with the participants in a demonstration to commemorate a history teacher killed near Paris last week, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2020) The German government is expressing solidarity with the participants in a demonstration to commemorate a history teacher killed near Paris last week, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday.
On Sunday, people in Paris and other cities across France held rallies in memory of the murdered teacher, Samuel Paty, demanding freedom of speech, republican freedoms and support for teachers. The demonstration in the capital was attended by Prime Minister Jean Castex and other senior officials, including Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. On Wednesday, France will host a national vigil ceremony for the murdered teacher.
"It was touching to see how people in Paris held yesterday a demonstration as a sign of mourning and memory of teacher Samuel Paty for these [European] values [on freedom of religion]. The German government supports them against Islamist violence and hatred in any form. Our condolences to the family of the murdered," Seibert said at a briefing.
The French history teacher was beheaded in the outskirts of Paris on Friday night. The main suspect for the murder, a Moscow-born 18-year-old man of Chechen origin, was shot dead by security forces. The attack came after 47-year-old Paty showed a cartoon depicting Islamic prophet Muhammad to his students at the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in a northwestern Paris suburb, outraging some Muslim parents.
French President Emmanuel Macron has denounced the attack, branding it as a terrorist act. At a Defense Council meeting on Sunday, the president ordered the implementation of widespread measures to combat Islamist extremism. The measures include tightening security in French schools to enter into effect after the fall break. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French right-wing National Rally party, in turn, said it was necessary to deport from France religious separatists of foreign origin advocating hatred.
Meanwhile, the probe into the attack is underway, with 11 people currently in police custody, including members of the attacker's family.
