Article

Man charged for 'liking' photo of murdered French teacher

 

A young man who "liked" a gruesome Twitter picture showing French teacher Samuel Paty after he was murdered has been charged with glorifying terrorism, French authorities said Sunday.

Paty was attacked and killed on the street for showing his students cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a class on free speech.

His killer, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee who had been living in France since he was a child, was shot dead by police. Before his death he posted a picture of the teacher's severed head on Twitter.

The 22-year-old man charged on Sunday is also of Chechen origin, the public prosecutor in the central town of Blois, where he lives, said.

He was already on the radar of the authorities for having endorsed a massacre at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that first published the Mohammed cartoons.

Several knives and other weapons were found at his home, prosecutor Frederic Chevallier.

The man denied being radicalized, Chevallier added.

Since Paty's murder on October 16 the French authorities have launched a clampdown on radical Islam.

Police have carried out dozens of raids on individuals and organizations suspected of supporting or abetting extremism.

Depictions of the Prophet Mohammed are considered sacrilegious by many Muslims.

But in France, which has a long tradition of satirizing religion, they are seen as symbolic of free speech. 

QUESTIONS:
1) Briefly recount the details of the murder of Samuel Paty.

2) How come one man who 'liked' his horrific photo on Twitter was charged? What criminal charge is he facing?

3) Explain the different attitudes on Mohammed cartoons by the Chechen people and the French.

4) How do you feel about satirical publications on religion? For you, is it blasphemy or free speech?

5) Do you see eye to eye with the crackdown on potential radical and extreme Islam online? Why or why not? 

VOCABULARY/EXPRESSION:
Chechen - a member of the predominant, traditionally Muslim ethnic group of Chechnya