Samuel Paty's beheading case: Six teens convicted in France

One, a 13-year-old girl at the time, was convicted of making false accusations. Five others, who had been aged between 14 and 15, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy with intent to cause violence, reported The Guardian.

History teacher Samuel Paty was murdered by beheading on October 16, 2020 on the outskirts of Paris by an 18-year-old Chechen radical.

The attack allegedly occurred because the teacher had shown religious caricatures depicting Islamic prophet Muhammad to his students as part of freedom of speech discussion, prompting outrage among their Muslim parents. The caricature was published in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The attacker was shot dead by police the same day he committed the murder.

The attacker was identified as 18-year-old Chechen refugee Abdoullakh Anzorov.

A second trial will open next year for eight adults also accused of complicity in the murder. These include Brahim Chnina, the father of the 13-year-old girl on trial, reported BBC.

According to reports, the convicted girl told her parents that the teacher had asked Muslim students to leave the room before showing the caricatures.

But she had in fact been absent from the class in question. The court found her guilty of having made false accusation charges and slanderous comments, reported BBC.

Following the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad, the office of Charlie Hebdo was attacked by suspected Islamist extremists in 2015, leaving at least twelve people dead.