The beheading of a schoolteacher who had shown his class cartoons of the prophet Muhammad during a lesson on free speech has rekindled a debate in France about secularism and the state’s role in regulating free expressionThe murder of the schoolteacher Samuel Paty has rekindled a long-running debate in France about secularism, free expression and the role of the state. Paty had shown his class two of the cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad that were originally published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Ten days later, after an online campaign against him, he was killed by Abdullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old of Chechen origin. The Guardian’s Europe correspondent, Jon Henley, tells Rachel Humphreys that the response to the killing by President Emmanuel Macron was swift and incendiary. The writer and journalist Nabila Ramdani tells Rachel that any debate in France about free speech and secularism must recognise the appalling living conditions and life chances of the many French citizens from immigrant backgrounds.

Source: The Guardian November 22, 2020 16:30 UTC