John Dowling, killed by a jihadist in Paris, 2018. Photo private
Another jihadist deemed ‘criminally irresponsible’ for professor’s murder
A former student, of Pakistani origin, had fatally stabbed this teacher in front of the Leonardo da Vinci university in the suburbs of the city of Paris in December 2018.
Published: May 7, 2021, 1:25 pm
After the Sarah Halimi affair in France, Ali Hassan Rajput’s judgment will no doubt once again stir up controversy.
On December 5, 2018, a former student of the Leonardo da Vinci university in La Défense (Hauts-de-Seine) had fatally attacked an English teacher, John Dowling, 66 years old, with a meat cleaver. On Thursday, May 6, the court considered that the 37-year-old Pakistani was “criminally irresponsible” for his act, according to French daily Le Figaro. The cause: the individual seemingly suffered from “paranoid psychosis”, according to experts. He therefore will not stand trial. The investigation chamber ordered his “hospitalization, under duress”.
This Pakistani – who speaks only Urdu and English – had been admitted to the Leonardo da Vinci university in 2016, but had not passed his school year. He was excluded from the course in August 2017. At the time, the public prosecutor of Nanterre, Catherine Denis, had described the murderer as “not delusional, but not in tune with the facts”. He allegedly admitted to having “killed his teacher with several stab wounds”.
The images of CCTV cameras, located in front of the university, had confirmed this. Around noon on that day, the English teacher left for lunch. He walked past the students scattered in Mona-Lisa Square. They watched this near-retired teacher walk towards Ali Hassan Rajput, a former student many preferred to avoid. Images showed the suspect chatting “calmly” with the victim before he suddenly attacked him with a meat cleaver he had hidden on his person.
The 37-year-old man appeared, in 2018, “totally obsessed with his eviction from college”. Also, the magistrate had specified that the suspect had been personally angry with his victim. The English teacher John Dowling had “made a drawing that he had distributed in class in 2016”.
The alleged murderer had viewed it as “insulting the prophet” Mohammed. However, “nothing confirmed this version” according to his defence lawyer, because “nobody remembered such an incident”. The individual apparently never exhibited “an element of radicalization” but had been perceived as a Muslim who was “very religious, very pious, very practicing”.
But Rajput himself told investigators that he wanted to avenge the prophet, insulted by Dowling in class. He told the judge that John Dowling was “against Islam” and he had presented “a drawing insulting” the prophet but also “a photo between a man and a woman which is not natural”. According to French tabloid Le Parisien, the day after his act, Rajput told investigators he had no regrets. “I am calm, peaceful. It was a burden for me.” Rajput had demanded “a Muslim lawyer, and not a woman” to represent him. The national anti-terrorism prosecution has never looked into the case.
He was not known to any intelligence service and had no criminal record, at least not in France. Investigators from the Hauts-de-Seine judicial police, however, spoke of a “worrying” profile, expressing “obsessive” resentment. Rajput’s Facebook account (entitled “C’est la Rana”) indeed revealed a personality with extremist ideas, for example openly supporting Khadim Rizvi, founder of a radical and violent Islamist party in Pakistan, in favour of the systematic death penalty for blasphemy.
At the end of November 2018, Ali Hassan Rajput wrote on the social network: “We need an insurrection, a revolution, a complete destruction of the rule of white men and the law of al-Saud” [the reigning dynasty in Saudi Arabia – editor’s note].
He also called for jihad, “battle for the stability of peace, fighting against demons like Israel, America, France and the hypocrites among us” and considered that Muslims “have the right to raise their voice of truth, to preach and even to kill disbelievers who are against Islam”.
The Pakistani had lost his right to be on French soil in September 2017 after his student visa expired. As Le Figaro pointed out on Thursday, May 7, the victim, Dowling, had been teaching in the establishment for twenty years. Of Irish origin, this English teacher was “appreciated by all”, according to his management. The autopsy revealed 23 wounds, including five in the head, three on the neck, six on the thorax and several “defensive lesions” on the arm.
It is interesting to note that the current Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti is distinguished by his hostility towards Marine Le Pen. He appears to be the designated person to fight the president of the National Rally and any criticism of immigration. His focus explains the recent spate of judgements in favour of Islamic killers, some have argued.
Since Dupond-Moretti’s appointment to the government at the head of the Ministry of Justice last summer, the minister of “anti-racism” with “mixed blood” has spent a significant part of his media interventions to castigate Le Pen.
He had already shown his very marked commitment against the National Rally in the past, going so far as to vote for the outright ban of the former National Front on France Inter in 2015. The Minister of Justice believes the fight against the “racism and xenophobia” of the anti-immigration Le Pen is the most important battle.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
Europe
The Ursula von der Leyen Affair
After a criminal complaint in Belgium against the President of the European Commission, the so-called SMS-case, now takes a new turn. The judge responsible for the investigation will likely gain access to the secret messages exchanged between Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, at least if they haven't been deleted.
Publisher of Unique Literature Worldwide Blocked by International Distributor
Arktos has distinguished itself by publishing groundbreaking philosophers and social critics. Now, the publisher's international distributor has abruptly terminated the cooperation, and more than 400 already printed titles cannot reach their audience. There is strong evidence that the distributor has been under pressure, something that has also happened in Sweden. We have spoken with Arktos founder Daniel Friberg about the ongoing struggle for freedom of speech in a shrinking cultural corridor.
Care prompts bishops to criticize transgender ideology
The Catholic bishops of the Scandinavian countries presented an open five-page letter criticizing transgender ideology on March 21, just before Easter. The document primarily expresses care and advice and was read aloud in Catholic churches in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the signatories of the document.
Brits Forced to Live in Darkness and Cold
Food prices are rising at a furious pace, fastest in Scotland in almost half a century. At the same time, energy prices are at record highs. People are forced to choose between freezing or going hungry, and a majority of Scots are forced to live in cold and darkness to cope with bills. Old generations' tricks for saving and keeping warm are returning. Nevertheless, it is feared that 10,000 Brits will die of cold homes this winter. We present the Swedish Public Health Agency's guidelines on indoor temperature. Governments in Europe are introducing rationing and monitoring of food purchases. Net-zero emissions are a lie that, in practice, de-industrializes the West and dramatically lowers our standard of living.
Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy
BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.
Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions
BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.
Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’
RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.
UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs
LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.
Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers
LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.
Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever
RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.
