The schoolgirl who had accused Samuel Paty, the history and geography teacher murdered on October 16, 2020, of having shown caricatures of naked Mohammed and of having allegedly discriminated against Muslim students was heard this Tuesday, November 26. The teenager began her speech with an apology.
4 mins
At the helm, the 17-year-old girl shyly answers the questions of the president of the assize courtreports our journalist, Amélie Beaucour. In a short pleated skirt, sleeveless black zipped vest over a white shirt, Nina (her first name has been changed), dark complexion, hair pulled up in a bun, earrings in her ears, speaks in a very low voice, seeming to measure each of her words.
In the boxan accused listens attentively. It concerns his father, Brahim Chnina, 52 years old, prosecuted for having published messages and then videos on social networks “ hateful » against Samuel Paty. He faces 30 years in prison. Because of her family ties to one of the accused, Nina does not have to take the oath, but “ this does not prevent you from speaking frankly », Warns President Franck Zientara.
Tired face, head down, she addresses the family of Samuel Paty, her history and geography teacher. “ I’m sorry for destroying your life “, she breathes as tears flow down her cheeks. “ Why such a late apology? », Ask the family lawyer. “ Because this is the last time I can speakshe replies, It was important to me to finish with that. »
The young girl recounts how she lied to her parents to justify her two-day exclusion from college. A dissipated and not very studious student according to testimonies from former teachers, she was excluded for her unjustified absences and her behavior. But the version she gives to her mother is very different. “ Out of panic and stress, I told him that I had been to a class and that I didn’t agree, that the teacher excluded me. That we saw caricatures “, she said.
Brahim Chnina wastes no time denouncing a professor on social networks “ thug » which he cites by name. He was quickly joined by the experienced Islamist activist Abdelhakim Sefrioui (also in the dock). Presenting himself as a journalist », Sefrioui does an interview with Nina in front of the college doors, offering answers along the way. The young girl, then aged 13, repeated her lies.
“ I could no longer manage my lie”
With her father, she will file a complaint at the police station against Samuel Paty. “ I told myself that someone was going to stop me in my lie but no one said that I wasn’t in class. I told myself that everyone believed me (…) I could no longer manage my lie », explains Nina. The announcement of the death of Samuel Paty won’t change anything about his stubbornness. It was only during her custody, after 30 hours of interrogation, that the young girl finally admitted, but too late, that she had lied.
Throughout her testimony, the young girl shows little emotion… except when she talks about her father. “ I want to apologize to my family, my parents. Because of my lie, we all end up here. I wanted to apologize to my father (…) without my lie, no one would be here “, she sobbed. “ I used my father’s naivety and kindness (…) In no case could he say that what I said was false. » « My father says that you must always respect teachers “, she continues. “ Ah good ? All right », the president cannot help but react.
“ Today, if a person should be condemned, it is not the people in the box but me », Repeats Nina. Leaving the courtroom, Me Virginie Le Roy, lawyer for the Paty family, was surprised by the witness’s changes of heart. “ A year ago, she indicated that her father was responsible, that her father had issued a digital fatwa and that she had been manipulated. Today, she comes to tell us that she is responsible for everything. We must not make fun of the world “, she laments.
Also readTrial of the assassination of Samuel Paty: the story of the accused who leads Anzorov to the scene of the crime