Eight people are on trial Monday, November 4 before the Paris Special Assize Court for their alleged involvement in the assassination of Samuel Patty. This history-geography professor, brutally killed on October 16, 2020 by a terrorist, in front of the college where he taught, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. Four years after the events, the city remains marked by this tragedy, but is gradually overcoming the trauma.
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Sitting on the terrace of a brasserie on the banks of the quays, Gilles and Sylvie have an aperitif. She was born in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. Four years ago, on October 16, 2020, she was there and remembers: “ I was at work at the time, I was still working. It was my son who called me to tell me that right next to their house, at the kids’ college “, she explains.
Four years later, the retiree with red hair and smoky eyelashes remains marked by this tragedy. “ Yes, I think about it of course because it’s near us, it’s my grandchildren’s school, so of course we think about it », adds Sylvie.
In the voice of the Conflanais, the emotion is still strong when it comes to talking about Samuel Paty. This 73-year-old man struggles to find his words. “ It’s something that remains, how can we put it… “muted”. It’s there, it’s present, we can’t forget. I pity the family a lot “, he said.
“ I can’t explain so much barbarity today. I cannot understand that because we are fanatics, because we have ideologies, we manage to murder like this in a brutal way. », asks this Conflanais.
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A city recovering from trauma and mourning
“ It was a terrible story, because well, Conflans, we didn’t think about it », explains Youssef. Cigarette in hand, this resident of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine remembers October 16, 2020 well. It’s something that shocked me because, well, the poor professor, he had nothing to reproach himself for, then here we come across fanatics “, he laments.
After the assassination of Samuel Paty, the city is in mourning. It is getting darker, according to Lucie, a Conflan restaurateur. “ There was a very sad, very gloomy climate, but because there is necessarily a large part of incomprehension and what happened is still something very serious and which we do not condone. absolutely not », underlines Lucie.
Four years later, no one has forgotten Samuel Paty. But for Laurent Brosse, mayor of Conflans Sainte-Honorine since 2014, the city is recovering from the trauma “ I think time has taken its toll. I think that since the attack, there has still been a form of reconstruction, but once again, there is still this need to come together each time on October 16 to discuss », describes Laurent Brosse.
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This is the case of this woman, here for a year and a half. In Conflans, she likes the calm, the greenery, the banks of the Seine and she feels safe there. For her, the assassination of Samuel Paty is an isolated case: “ This can take place anywhere, it is not linked to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine this type of incident. This can happen anywhere, in France or elsewhere, this kind of drama », she judges.
Life has returned to normal in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. But the memory of Samuel Paty remains. Every year, on October 16, a tribute ceremony is organized on Liberty Square. In a few months, the Bois d’Aulne college will bear the name of Samuel Paty.
Assassination of Samuel Paty, a reminder of the facts
In October 2020, in a course on freedom of expression, Samuel Paty showed two of the caricatures published by Charlie Hebdo. The two lies that started everything were those of a student who told her father that she was in class and that the teacher asked the Muslim students to come forward and leave.
The girl’s father, Brahim Chnina, sent messages that attracted the attention of Islamist activist Abdelhakim Sefrioui. Both go to the college to demand that the teacher be fired. They film the locations and post videos on social networks. They mention the names of Samuel Paty and the college. The messages are widely relayed on Facebook and WhatsApp, notably by the Pantin mosque, without anyone verifying the merits of the accusations. It is not known how the terrorist became aware of these accusations.
On October 16, he appeared in front of the establishment. He gets Samuel Paty named by college students with the promise of money. He follows him, stabs him, decapitates him. He claims responsibility for the assassination, takes a photo which goes viral very quickly on social networks. He was subsequently shot dead by the police who came to arrest him.