The French government has decided to give its highest award “Legion d’Honneur” to Samuel Paty who was beheaded by an Islamist. This announcement was made by education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.
Paty was killed on Friday in broad daylight outside his school by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin. Samuel Paty was a history teacher and he was murdered by the teenager for showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the class. Muslims believe that any depiction of the Prophet is blasphemous.
Later, the killer, whose identity has not been established, was shot by police as they tried to arrest him and later died of his injuries. The murder sparked massive outrage in the country and drew condemnation from political parties and President Emmanuel Macron, who called the crime an “Islamist terrorist attack”.
The authorities are investigating the case and have arrested 15 people so far. Among those in custody are four school students and four of the attacker’s family members, according to BBC News. The police also carried out some 40 raids on the homes of suspected radicals on Monday.
France is preparing to expel 231 radicalized foreign nationals. France defines extremists as “people who, engaged in a process of radicalisation, are likely to want to go abroad to join terrorist groups or take part in terrorist activities”.
Mr Macron said, “Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world today, we are not just seeing this in our country”.
A national ceremony in honour of Paty will be held at Paris’ Sorbonne university on Wednesday.
