The day after the day of tribute organized in French schools in memory of teachers Samuel Paty and Dominique Bernard – killed Friday in an attack in Arras – the Minister of Education wants to show his firmness in the face of the incidents which occurred in different educational establishments. During the question session to the government at the National Assembly, Gabriel Attal announced, Tuesday, October 17, that he had referred 179 cases of students who “made the choice” to “disrupt this meditation” to the public prosecutors.
“In the overwhelming majority of cases, in almost all cases, this moment of contemplation, this moment of homage, took place with the deepest dignity and the greatest respect,” argued the minister, before noting that “179 students made another choice, that of disrupting this meditation, provoking the school and insulting the memory of our teachers”.
As a result, “179 referrals to the public prosecutor are being made today to initiate proceedings against these students,” declared Mr. Attal, specifying that 179 disciplinary procedures were also launched against the students concerned. “And for the most serious cases, several dozen of them, which concern the apology of terrorism, I order today the exclusion of these students, pending the disciplinary procedures which will be held,” said also announced the minister. “At one point, tolerance is fine, kindness is fine, and the “no wave” is over,” he added.
In 2020, 400 incidents during the tribute to Samuel Paty
National education had identified “400 violations” during the minute of silence organized in November 2020 in tribute to Professor Samuel Paty, assassinated on October 16 of that year by a radicalized young person, according to figures communicated by the Minister of Education. then, Jean-Michel Blanquer. A year later, around a hundred incidents were recorded by the ministry during the tribute paid to this same professor.
Monday’s day of tribute was organized three days after the assassination of a teacher. That of Dominique Bernard, a 57-year-old French teacher, stabbed to death in his high school in Arras by a radicalized former student.
In middle and high schools, classes before 10 a.m. had been canceled. Instead, a “time for exchange that was both human and educational” took place within the educational teams of the establishments. A minute of silence was then observed at 2 p.m. in all schools and rectorates.
On Tuesday, the prosecution requested the indictment and pre-trial detention of the assailant, Mohammed Mogouchkov, aged 20, as well as his brother, 16, suspected of having “provided some support in his deadly project”. . The prosecution also requests the indictment of the “young cousin of these siblings”, aged under 16, who would have been “informed of the project” without “doing anything to prevent it”.
