Samuel Paty was killed on October 16th, 2020

Today is the fourth anniversary of the gruesome killing of Samuel Paty, the teacher who was stabbed and beheaded by an Islamist militant near the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, outside of Paris, where he taught history and geography.

His ‘crime’?

Showing students images of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson on freedom of expression; a lesson in which he had emphasised that students could choose not to look at the cartoons if they were offended.

This was an attack not just on Mr Paty’s right to life, but on freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of religion and belief.

I, along with my colleagues at the Free Speech Union, stand in solidarity with his family, and his colleagues who continue to promote critical thinking, argumentation and debate around controversial societal issues – today, and always.