The father of the schoolgirl accused of having designated Samuel Paty as a target on social networks is tried at the trial of the professor’s assassination. Between protests, apologies and victim tone, his statements shocked.
Without him, the assassination of Samuel Paty would perhaps never have taken place. Brahim Chnina is one of eight adults tried in this case in which he is described as the “father of the schoolgirl”. This 52-year-old man, at the origin of false rumors targeting the history and geography professor, is accused of having initiated a vast hate campaign on social networks with one of the others accused, the Islamist activist Abdelhakim Sefrioui .
The father, whose personality investigation revealed a deep attachment to those close to him and a propensity to “take care of others”, had judged Samuel Paty responsible for the – fictitious – exclusion of his daughter. He assured that the professor could not stand the schoolgirl standing up to him after the broadcast of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed during a course on freedom of expression. Brahim Chnina then shared the identity and address of the teacher on social networks in videos “intended to arouse a feeling of hatred”, designating Samuel Paty “as a target”.
Facts and accusations contested by the father of the schoolgirl when taking the stand at the trial of the assassination of Samuel Paty, on Wednesday November 6, at the special assize court of Paris. “I do not recognize the facts that I am accused of,” he declared behind the window of his box in front of the audience, including the civil parties and his relatives who came to attend the hearing. But if Brahim Chnina denied the accusations, he also expressed remorse four years after the death of Samuel Paty and apologized to the teacher’s family: “I deeply regret. I apologize to the family and to this poor professor who should never have died in these conditions.” An apology to which Me Virginie Leroy, one of the Paty family’s lawyers, cut short: “We don’t need your excuses here, but your explanations”.
He calls himself a “victim of terrorism”
The investigation into the assassination of Samuel Paty concluded that the videos of Brahim Chnina reached the terrorist Abdoullakh Anzorov who beheaded the professor, before being himself shot dead by the police. The two men were in contact by telephone on several occasions a few days before the attack of October 16, 2020, between October 9 and 13 again according to investigations. The young terrorist of Chechen origin was “immersed in religion” according to the testimonies of former neighbors and his terrorist act suggests radicalization. But the father of the schoolgirl is described in the conclusions of the personality survey as a pious person without being radicalized.
On the contrary, the man says he is “very aware” of the dangers linked to terrorism, particularly on the Internet. He even adds, without much regard for Samuel Paty’s family, that he himself is a “victim of terrorism” by referring to one of his sisters, mentally deficient, who flew to Syria after having been ” indoctrinated” by a jihadist.
“We are not radicalized. We grew up secular,” insisted Brahim Chnina to the personality investigator. A relationship with secularism which still raises questions after his remarks and his accusations against Samuel Paty. The man was also questioned about his relations with his daughter’s school and, here again, his answers were surprising after the assassination of the teacher. He specified that he left it to his wife to manage the children’s education and that he never had contact with the college before October 8, the day he requested the teacher’s dismissal. The man also said he had “respect” for teachers and was in the habit of agreeing “with the teachers, not with [sa] daughter” in case of conflict.