French mom sentenced over “I am a bomb” T-shirt on young son
Bouchra Bagour, the mother of a three-year-old boy named Jihad who was born Sept. 11, leaves court in Avignon, France in December 2012. She faced charges after sending him to school in a T-shirt that said “I am a bomb.”
DIJON, France — An appeals court in France convicted a woman on Friday for sending her son, named "Jihad," to nursery school with a shirt that read "I am a bomb."
He arrived at school in another shirt reading "Jihad: Born on Sept. 11." The child was, in fact, born on Sept. 11, 2010.
Bouchra Bagour received a 2000-euro fine and a one-month suspended prison sentence.
Her brother was fined 4000 euros and given a two-month suspended sentence.
The prosecution appealed after an Avignon court acquitted the two, who reside near Nimes in southern France, months ago.
“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 appeals conviction was based on France's tough hate speech and denial of mass murder and genocide laws. France's laws on speech that justifies crimes are punishable by up to five years in prison.
The laws walk a fine line between allowing free speech and protecting victims of past crimes from vicious discourse and propaganda.
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