The New York Times reported that French police raided the homes of
4 Muslim children, treating them as terrorists, for expressing to teachers at
the school their refusal of the offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad -
peace be upon him - earlier this month.
On the 5th of November, the police raided the homes of 4 students
in the city of Albertville during the early hours of the morning, and dealt
with 10-year-old children as terrorists, 3 of whom were of Turkish origin and
one from Algeria.
This came after the Louis Pasteur School reported the children to
the police. Those children told their teachers that they did not like the
cartoons offensive to the Prophet Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him
peace - in response to questions asked by the teachers.
After receiving the report, the police assessed the children's
views as “support for terrorism,” then raided 4 homes simultaneously, took the
four 10-year-olds from their homes, treated them as “terrorists”, and
interrogated them for 11 hours in the police station.
With the spread of pictures of police raids on children's homes on
social media, a widespread wave of anger erupted among Muslims in France, and
many activists in Turkey interacted with the story.
The New York Times confirmed that the anti-extremist operations
announced by France have so far resulted in the questioning of at least 14
students, and the four children whose homes were raided by police with weapons
in Albertville are still suffering from psychological trauma, and their
families are preparing to sue teachers and police.
According to the data of the French Ministry of Education, there
are about 400 similar incidents throughout the country, 150 of which were
considered "in defense of terrorism."
The American newspaper pointed out that France was criticized at home and abroad for its actions and statements that risk confusing ordinary Muslims of France with people accused of extremism, especially by human rights organizations, amid questions about whether children enjoy freedom of expression in the country's classrooms.
