The father of a French pupil whose account of the use of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on free speech led to the teacher's brutal murder went on trial on Monday, accused of association with a terrorist network.

Eight people who allegedly helped the perpetrator in the brutal murder of history teacher Samuel Paty are set to stand trial in a Paris court on Monday, four years after the incident. The crime, classified as an Islamist-motivated terrorist act,