the 18-year-old killer, who was shot, was a refugee

The Russian of Chechen origin who beheaded a professor on Friday, who had organized a debate in his class where cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad were shown, was legally present in France and benefited from refugee status, the anti-terrorist prosecutor explained on Saturday .

The young man, born March 12, 2002 in Moscow, “had a residence permit issued on March 4 and valid until March 2030 (…). Of Russian nationality and of Chechen origin, he benefited from refugee status ”, declared Jean-François Ricard during a press conference.

“He was unknown to the intelligence services”, he added, recalling that he was, however, known to the police services for common law offenses, but never convicted.

He resided in Evreux, in another department, and Mr. Ricard did not specify whether he had at one time attended the Bois d’Aulne college, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where the victim worked.

The magistrate specified that a message of claim posted on Twitter just after the murder, making the link with Muhammad, indeed emanated from this individual. “The investigations were able to confirm that it was indeed an account belonging to the perpetrator,” he said.

The magistrate took stock of the murder on Friday of Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old history and geography professor, beheaded as he returned home after his day’s work.

The magistrate also confirmed that nine people were in police custody, including the father of a student, who had vindictively designated the teacher on social networks.

The message of demand came from the downed aggressor

The message of demands posted on Twitter with the photo of the history professor beheaded on Friday near a college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine was published on an account belonging to the assailant shot by the police, Abdoullakh Abouyezidovich A., the national anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Saturday.

“The investigations were able to confirm that it was indeed an account belonging to the author of the facts”, declared Jean-François Ricard during a press conference at the Paris court.

The first use of the attacker’s phone, found near his body, “made it possible to find in the notepad the text of the claim, recorded at 12:17 p.m. as well as the photograph of the deceased victim, time-stamped at 4:57 p.m.” he added.

Abdoullakh A., “born on March 12, 2002 in Moscow, Russia” and who had refugee status, was shot dead by police as he “ran in their direction, firing five times with a handgun.” explained the prosecutor.

According to his account, three policemen retaliated, causing the assailant to fall. “While he was trying to get up and stab the police officers, he was neutralized by the police,” he said, indicating that his body had “nine hits” of bullet.

The police found on him “a dagger-type knife, an Airsoft-type handgun and five gas cartridges compatible with this weapon”.

In addition, “a second knife with a total length of 35 centimeters, bloodied, was discovered about thirty meters from the scene of the crime”, indicated Mr. Ricard.

The aggressor, who lived in Evreux (Eure) and had a residence permit issued on March 4 and valid until March 2030, “was unknown to the intelligence services on a judicial level”. “He has never been sentenced while being known for cases of degradation of public property and violence in meetings, while he was still a minor,” said the prosecutor.

In addition, according to Mr. Ricard, among the nine people currently in police custody is the father of a pupil of the decapitated professor, who had notably called on social networks for the mobilization against the latter and his dismissal from the establishment. after a class in which the teacher showed caricatures of Muhammad.

“The half-sister of this man had joined the Islamic State organization in 2014 in Syria and she is, as such, the subject of a search warrant by an anti-terrorist investigating judge”, specified Mr. Ricard. .

Another man, “known to the intelligence services” and who notably participated in videos published by the student’s father, is also in police custody with his wife.

Attacker no longer had any ties to Russia, Moscow says

The Chechen assailant accused of beheading a professor in France had not had any links with Moscow since 2008, the Russian embassy noted on Saturday, quoted by Russian agencies.

“This crime has nothing to do with Russia, given that this individual had lived in France for 12 years and had been welcomed by the French side,” Sergei Parinov, a spokesperson for the Russian representation in Paris, told the Tass agency.

“In this case the important thing is not where he was born, but where, when and how he was converted to a terrorist ideology that Russia condemns, of course, in all its forms,” ​​he said. said.

According to him, the alleged assailant who was killed, Abdoullakh Anzorov, arrived in France at the age of 6 with his whole family, who were granted refugee status.

This status, still according to the same source, automatically leads to a deprivation of Russian nationality.

“There has never been any contact with the embassy,” the diplomat also said, telling the Ria Novosti agency that all of his information on the assailant came from the French authorities.