Sun 18 October 2020:
A Tunisian MP is being investigated for allegedly attempting to justify the decapitation of a French teacher in a gruesome terror attack this week, reports DW.
History teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded on Friday afternoon in the suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, about 30km northwest of Paris.
Paty had conducted a class on freedom of speech in which he showed cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
French police subsequently shot dead the alleged suspect in the beheading, an 18-year-old born in Moscow and originating from Chechnya, the predominantly Muslim Russian republic, some 600 metres away from the scene, Le Figaro reported, citing an unnamed judicial source.
An investigation is underway, with law enforcement officers reportedly detaining nine people in connection with the case, including the family of the suspect.
Islamic tradition forbids any images depicting the religion’s prophets.
Khiari took to Facebook in defense of the beheading, saying: “To insult the messenger of God” is “the greatest crime,” and whoever committed it had to “bear its consequences.”
In another post following the announcement of the investigation, Chiari he said could renounce his immunity to prosecution and his position in parliament, “but I will not renounce my conviction for the crime.”
The prophet is “more important and greater than fame, parliament, politics and the whole world,” he added.
His remarks were met with both criticism and praise.
Tunisia’s anti-terrorism law prohibits acts that expressly praise and glorify atrocities. Violators can be jailed for up to five years.
Chiari won a seat in parliament representing a right-wing religious movement during the 2019 elections before becoming an independent MP.
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