Teenager charged in France for hailing teacher’s beheading

A teenager has been charged in the southern French city of
Marseille with supporting terrorism for remarks he made during a homage for
murdered teacher Samuel Paty, a prosecutor said on Thursday.

The 14-year old boy, an Afghan national, openly welcomed the
killing in class, saying he “would have done the same,” the La
Provence newspaper reported.

The teenager had been released after questioning but will
remain under supervision, Marseille prosecutor Dominique Laurens told AFP.

Marseille has clocked up seven such school-related incidents
this week, the head of the region’s education authority Bernard Beignier told
La Provence.

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Three of them were believed to involve the
“justification of a terrorist act.

“Paty was beheaded near his school outside Paris last
month by an 18-year-old Chechen man after an angry online campaign over him
showing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed as part of a free-speech lesson.

On Tuesday, prosecutors in the eastern city of Strasbourg
opened an inquiry into two 12-year-olds over comments made during a national
homage to Paty, suggesting that the teacher had got what he deserved.

They added that two similar incidents were also reported
involving children aged eight and nine, prompting a social welfare inquiry.

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin told lawmakers this week
that 66 inquires into alleged support of terrorism had been opened since Paty’s
death, often involving “young people, aged from 12 to 16.”