A math teacher from Nancy has been suspended “as a precaution” and is the subject of an investigation for “apology for terrorism” for praising the Taliban on Facebook, calling them “courageous”.
“The rectorate (of the Academy of Nancy-Metz) sent to the Nancy prosecutor’s office screenshots of exchanges” on Facebook between this teacher “and unidentified people”, in which he “would have made laudatory remarks on the Taliban, qualifying them as “courageous”, indicated the public prosecutor, François Pérain, confirming information from the daily
Le Figaro.
Opening of a criminal investigation for the defense of terrorism
“The rector seized the prosecutor in accordance with article 40 of the code of criminal procedure” which requires any authority having knowledge of a crime or an offense to report it to justice, confirmed in a press release the rectorate, who “took the decision to suspend the teacher concerned as a precaution”. This one “has not integrated an establishment and does not provide lessons at the start of the school year”.
The prosecutor decided to open “a criminal investigation for apologizing for terrorism”, the Taliban being “on the list of terrorist organizations” of the European Union. “The investigation will allow us to determine with certainty the framework for the dissemination of his remarks and it is only in the light of the results of the investigation (…) that a criminal orientation can be decided”, added François Pérain. .
“The Taliban have the will and the conviction. Unlimited courage ”
According to Le Figaro, the incriminated remarks were posted on August 16, the day after the capture of Kabul by the Taliban. The teacher, who should have taken up his duties on Thursday in a Nancy high school, reportedly wrote: “they (the Taliban) have the will and the conviction. Unlimited courage ”. This teacher had previously also “demonstrated on numerous occasions already his attachment to political Islam” via posts, the daily still writes.
The man had previously worked for several years in a private Catholic school in the Metz region, without his behavior posing any problem, the director of this establishment also indicated to the regional daily. The Republican Lorrain.