France to shut Paris mosque over FB post against beheaded teacher

France on Tuesday, October 20 announced that it will be shutting down a mosque in Paris for six months over the video it had posted days before the brutal beheading of a school teacher, who had shown cartoons of Prophet Mohammed to his pupils while discussing freedom of expression. France's Interior Ministry announced that The Grand Mosque of Pantin, which has over 1,500 worshippers, would be shut down for six months effective Wednesday night because it had published a video on Facebook promoting hatred against the teacher Samuel Paty, who was murdered on October 16. 

Read: Outraged By Killing Of Teacher In France, Macron's Govt To Expel 231 Religious Extremists

The shut down of the mosque comes a day after Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced a clampdown on radical Islamic organisations, including Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) and BarakaCity. Gerald Darmanin had also told the Europe 1 radio station that over 80 cases of hate speech have been reported since Friday's attack, mostly against people supporting the gruesome act and posting messages in support of the attacker.   

Read: France Encourages 'national Cohesion' Rallies Following Killing Of Teacher Samuel Paty

The office of President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced that a national tribute will be paid to Samuel Paty in the courtyard of La Sorbonne on Wednesday evening. 

Read: France To Bid Farewell To Murdered History Teacher On Wednesday

The attack received widespread condemnation, including from Muslim groups such as the Conference of Imams, which described Samuel Paty as a "martyr of freedom". After the attack, thousands of demonstrators gathered in the streets of France to pay homage to Paty and rally in support of freedom of speech.

Teacher killed by Chechen refugee teen

Paty was killed by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, who was born in Russia and had migrated to France. The attacker named Abdoulakh A. was killed by the French police on the same day in an operation a few kilometres away from the crime spot. A knife and an airsoft gun were recovered. Eleven people were arrested in connection with the murder, including the grandfather and 17-year-old brother of the killed attacker. 

The murder of the teacher came days after a Pakistan-origin man carried out a meat cleaver attack near the former offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after the editor had said that they don't regret publishing the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed. In 2015, two brothers had stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo with automatic weapons, killing 12 people and injuring 11 others, including the current owner Riss. The attackers identified themselves as members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda and said that the attack was in response to the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed that the magazine had published in 2012.

Read: French Minister Says 'fatwa' Was Launched Against Teacher Beheaded In Paris

(Image Credit: AP)