French mother sentenced over bomb t-shirt, Boys Name Was Jihad

French mother sentenced over bomb t-shirt

>French Mother Sentenced Over “I Am A Bomb” T-Shirt

Bouchra Bagour received a 2000-euro fine ($2,700) and a one month suspended prison sentence on Friday.

The French woman sent her son, legally named Jihad, to nursery school wearing a shirt with words emblazoned across the front which translate to “I Am A Bomb.”

Her brother Zeyad was also charged and given a 4000-euro fine and a two-month sentence. The two were acquitted in April after being charged with defending terrorism, but that decision was overturned by the appeals court recently.

“This was an act of great naivety,” said their lawyer. “But the boy was really named Jihad by his father and the mother makes no apology for that. The boy’s uncle perhaps thought the jumper was funny, but it was clearly a joke that backfired.”

The back of the three year old’s shirt in question read, “Jihad: Born September 11.” He was in fact born on September 11. Their lawyer referred to the incident in question as “an act of great naivety.”

Bagour has also admitted that sending him to school in the shirts was tactless and that it was intended as a joke. Both were aware of the provocative nature of the article of clothing and it was decided that ignorance was not an excuse.

Her brother’s lawyer argued that Jihad was a common first name in the Middle East that had become subverted by fundamentalists. Jihad translates broadly as leading a holy life, but it is also used by Islamist radicals to denote a holy war.

As for the “I am a bomb” phrase, the lawyer pointed out that many shops sold T-shirts with the slogan, which is slang in France for an attractive person.

Hate speech in France can be punished with up to five year in prison.