Analysts dispute on possible consequences for Chechens of teacher's murder in France

The French society is shocked by the teacher's murder, of which a Chechen is suspected; and this may lead to a deteriorated attitude towards immigrants from Chechnya, the political analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in the afternoon on October 16, in the French city of Conflans-Saint-Honorine, a supposedly Moscow native of Chechen origin beheaded a school teacher after the latter had shown caricatures on Prophet Mohammed from the Charlie Hebdo magazine to his pupils. The attacker was shot dead by policemen.

The terror act in France will undoubtedly lead to a worsening of attitudes towards Chechens, both living in this country and those trying to obtain asylum there, said Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst and the head of studies at the "Civilizations Dialogue" Institute.

"They are not very well liked there, and now the public opinion will be even more irritated. This story may backfire on Chechens all over Europe – they will be received worse, or maybe they will start extraditing them," Mr Malashenko told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Leonid Syukiyainen, an ordinary professor at the Law Department of the National Research University "Higher School of Economics", is sure that the attitude towards Chechens in France may change for the worse, since the French society, which has failed to learn lessons from previous incidents of this kind, is shocked by what has happened.

"For Frenchmen, showing caricatures is just a manifestation of the freedom of speech, and nothing special. They've failed to take lessons from previous incidents of this nature, and sincerely don't understand what can excite people in these caricatures so much that a person can commit a murder. Now, they'll start telling that this terror act is another manifestation of the savagery of Muslim nation," the professor has stated.

A lot depends on whether an emphasis will be made on the criminal's nationality, said Akhmet Yarlykapov, a senior researcher at the Centre for Caucasian and Regional Security Problems at the MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations). "If such an emphasis is made, the attitude towards Chechens will certainly change," he said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 17, 2020 at 09:05 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.