Demonstrations across France to pay tribute to murdered teacher

Political leaders, associations and unions will rally on Sunday afternoon in Paris and other major cities including Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nantes, Marseille, Lille and Bordeaux

A poster reading ‘I am Samuel’ and flowers lie outside the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north-west of Paris, where the murdered teacher had been working (Michel Euler/AP)

Demonstrations have been called around France in support of freedom of speech and to pay tribute to a history teacher who was beheaded near Paris after discussing caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed with his class.

Samuel Paty was decapitated on Friday by an 18-year-old Moscow-born Chechen refugee, who was then shot dead by police.