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Police Question French 8-Year-Old for Saying, “I Am with the Terrorists”

The child uttered the comment in his classroom during a minute of silence for the victims of the 'Charlie Hebdo' attack, and subsequently reported that he was bullied by the school principal.
Pierre Longeray
Paris, FR
Photo courtesy Charlie Hebdo

Police in the southern French city of Nice have questioned an 8-year-old boy and his father, after the third-grader allegedly praised the Charlie Hebdo attackers, saying, "I am with the terrorists."

Marcel Authier, the regional head of public safety, told Le Parisien that the student at Nice Flore Elementary School uttered the offending phrase on January 8 — the day after two Islamic radicals attacked Charlie Hebdo's offices, killing 12 people — when he refused to participate in a nationwide minute of silence and a display of solidarity in honor of the victims.

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Speaking on the French news network i-Télé on Thursday, French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem praised the school staff for their handling of the situation, saying that they had "followed guidelines" and, in a first instance, had met with the boy's father to discuss the incident.

Vallaud-Belkacem said that there would be no legal action against the boy, but explained that the school had lodged a formal complaint against the father for his "brutal" attitude and threatening behavior toward the school staff during the meeting and in the weeks following the incident.

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The principal of the Nice Flore elementary school reported the boy's comments to the police on January 21. The authorities brought him in for questioning this Wednesday.

The child's attorney, Sefen Guez Guez, tweeted Thursday that he had signed a document confirming that the boy was being prosecuted for "defending terrorism" — a claim denied by the police and education officials, who maintain Wednesday's questioning was informal.

J'ai signé PERSONNELLEMENT le PV où SEUL le petit Ahmed est poursuivi pour apologie d'acte de terrorisme. Demandez au Parquet.

— S. Ibn Salah (@IbnSalah)January 29, 2015

"I PERSONALLY signed the document which states that young Ahmed is the ONLY ONE being prosecuted for defending terrorism," Guez Guez wrote. "Ask the public prosecutor."

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Chief superintendent Fabienne Lewandowski told French radio channel France Info that the boy and his father had been questioned "in order to understand what happened, and what motivated this child to say such things."

Paris attorney Thierry Vallat, who specializes in defending terrorism apologists, told VICE News that he was shocked by the decision "to question a minor that young." Vallat said that the child's lack of "moral discernment" and inability to fully understand the effect of his comments should have prompted a different course of action, such as "the referral of the matter to the police youth division."

Meanwhile, the boy's father has filed a lawsuit against the school principal for "aggravated violence," following reports by his son that he was bullied and beaten by school staff.

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Guez Guez read his 8-year-old client's first-person account of the alleged abuse over the phone to VICE News on Thursday:

"On January 8 in the morning, I was in my classroom. I said, 'I am for the terrorists.' My teacher took me to the principal's office. He [the principal] grabbed my face and hit my head three times against the blackboard…. The principal put me in the corner, gave me scissors. I didn't want to take them. He said, 'Kill those you don't like.' "

The boy, who is diabetic, also claims in his statement that the principal later threatened to prevent him from testing his blood sugar levels, saying, "If we stop your insulin, you die."

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He goes on to describe more violence, which he claims occurred later in the day:

"During afternoon recess, I was playing around and I hit a friend. The principal gave me a time out, he grabbed my sweater and said, 'Is that how you slap the first graders?' He gave me the slap when I was looking for beads for a classmate who wanted to make a bracelet. He punished me in the neck. To make me sit down, he put his foot on my head."

French news channel BFM TV reported that the principal of Nice Flore elementary denies the child's claims.

The unity France showed after the Charlie Hebdo attack is starting to show cracks. Read more here.

According to Le Figaro, prosecutors in Nice have also asked for a separate investigation into reports of abuse within the boy's family. They questioned his younger siblings, aged 4 and 5, on Thursday. Speaking Thursday outside the Élysée Palace, Education Minister Vallaud-Belkacem confirmed that the school had alerted child protection services.

Guez Guez charges that these accusations are a way for the administration "to shirk its responsibility by attempting to accuse the father of abuse, ill treatment, radicalism, etc. The administration realizes it made mistake."

The incident has divided France, which is still reeling from its worst terrorist attack in decades. The French National Observatory Against Islamophobia released a statement on Thursday denouncing what it described as a climate of "collective hysteria" since the killings, while Twitter users coined #Ahmed8ans (#Ahmed8yearsold) to express their shock over the police questioning of an 8-year-old. (Though the child's name has not been disclosed, French media outlets have been referring to him as "Ahmed.")

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French politicians took to Twitter on Thursday to weigh in on the incident. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi supported the principal, whom he said had "bravely reported the incidents." Right-wing UMP party member Eric Ciotti praised the police and the teachers, "who reacted perfectly given the circumstances."

Soutien au directeur d'école qui a dénoncé les faits avec courage. J'attends de la justice de la fermeté face à la responsabilité parentale

— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi)January 29, 2015

Enfant auditionné à Nice ,les policiers et les enseignants ont parfaitement agis compte tenu du contexte ,je les soutiens totalement .

— Eric Ciotti ? (@ECiotti)January 29, 2015

Following a meeting Thursday with community leaders and educators, Valaud-Belkacem thanked the school staff for "their continued monitoring, teaching, and social work."

According to figures released by Vallaud-Belkacem earlier this month, some 200 incidents were reported by French school staff following the nationwide minute of silence on January 8, 40 of which were referred to the police or to legal authorities.

Guez Guez said that the child has no idea why he decided to blurt out, "I am for the terrorists," adding that when he was asked by police what terrorism was, the boy replied that he didn't know.

"The father is not into radical Islam," the attorney said. "He condemns terrorism. He explained things to his son."

The child is still enrolled at Nice Flore elementary for now, but he has not attended class since Wednesday.

Additional reporting from Étienne Rouillon
Follow Pierre Longeray on Twitter:@PLongeray