France teacher attack: Police raid homes of suspected Islamic radicals
French police have raided the
homes of dozens of suspected Islamic radicals following the beheading of
a teacher who showed controversial cartoons of Prophet Muhammad to his pupils.
Some of those being questioned are believed to have posted messages of support for the killer of Samuel Paty.
Others are from associations that the government believes propagate a message of defiance to the French state.
Police shot dead Mr Paty's suspected killer on Friday in a Paris suburb.
On Monday, Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin said 51 Muslim associations were being investigated and that some would be shut down. He said the operations sent a message that there was "no respite for enemies of the republic", and they were expected to continue all week.
Meanwhile, around 80 people would be interviewed by police over online hate speech, Mr Darmanin added.
They include people thought to belong to organisations such as the Collective Against Islamophobia. On its website, the collective describes itself as a "human rights organisation whose mission is to combat Islamophobia" that partners with the United Nations among other institutions.
Mr Paty was murdered in the Paris suburb Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. An 18-year-old born in Moscow of Chechen origin was shot dead by police on Friday.
What's the latest in the investigation?
Anti-terrorism Prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said Mr Paty had been the target of threats since he showed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech.
As he had done in similar lessons in recent years, Mr Paty, a history and geography teacher, advised Muslim students to look away if they thought they might be offended.
Samuel Paty, a well-liked teacher, had been threatened over showing the cartoons
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