Can  the  Freedom   of   Speech  be  stretched  too  far?                        

One of the most cherished freedoms we have is our right to speak our own minds. But are there limits as to just how far we can stretch that freedom before it becomes a crime?

In the southern town of Sorgues in France, a young mother who sent her three-year-old son whose name is Jihad to school in a T-shirt reading “I am a bomb” and “Jihad, born on September 11” was given a suspended prison term and a fine for defending criminal acts such as terrorism.

Bouchra Bagour said she had simply wanted to mark the birthday of her son, Jihad who was born on September 11 and she had not intended any connection with the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

Previously, she had been acquitted in April by another court on charges of defending terrorism but prosecutors had appealed the decision.

On Friday, an appeal court Nimes reversed the ruling, and fined Bagour 2,000 euros ($2,700) and gave her a suspended one-month jail term. Her brother Zeyad, who gave his nephew the T-shirt, was fined 4,000 euros ($5,400) and given a two-month suspended prison sentence. Under French law, justifying a crime in public is punishable by up to five years in prison and a 45,000-euro ($61,059.00 US) fine.

Bagour, 35 at the time of the first trial, had admitted in court that sending her child to school wearing the T-shirt had been tactless, but she insisted it was not meant as a provocation. Her brother Zeyad, 29 at the time, told the court, “We were never trying to claim responsibility for this thing or defend a cause.”

The lawyer for the pair said that the decision was harsh and surprising, adding that she would consider sending the case to the Paris-based Supreme Court for a final arbitration.

First of all, had the mother sent her child to school with only the words, “I was born on September 11^th, that wouldn’t be offensive. But coupled with the words, “I am a bomb.” that is definitely tactless, stupid and showing disrespect to the thousands who died in that 9/11 event.

Even though the mother and her brother denied supporting terrorism (and I believe them) anyone reading the words on that T-shirt could believe that whoever put those words on the T-shirt and anyone who permitted a child to wear it, was in fact supporting terrorism. Is it any different if she taught her son to say, “I support terrorism?”

What was really stupid was sending her son to school with the words, “I am a bomb” on his T-shirt. If she was in an airport with her son wearing that T-shirt, panic would ensue and armed police would surround her and pounce on her. The bomb squad would be called and the explosive experts would be called to make sure that the boy wasn’t carrying a bomb and the terminal would be evacuated.                                   

Furthermore, the name of her son being Jihad is a rather foolish name to name your son in this present era because there is no escaping the violent contexts within which some extremists wage what they consider as a jihad. Responding to calls for jihad, fighters leave their own lands to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. Terrorist groups adopt the term and frame their cause under its auspices.

However, the word Jihad can mean “anything from an internal struggle one has within one’s self, such as with a perceived weakness, a struggle with one’s faith, and a physical fight or battle. I would however be less than honest if I didn’t point out that the word, Jihad is not an unusual first name for Muslims but I would think that giving a child that name when the family lives in a non-Islamic country is just asking for trouble. 

When you join the word “Jihad” with “I am a bomb” and September 11”, there are clearly terroristic connotations in the combined words. It would cause someone seeing such words on a T-shirt as suspecting that the parent of such a child supports terrorism.

In my opinion, both the mother and uncle of the child broke the law as it applies in France. Anyone walking around with a sign or yelling that you are a bomb is the actions of a terrorist even if there isn’t a bomb in your possession. Now obviously, the boy and her mother and uncle were not terrorists but the implication is definitely clear enough so that anyone who permits a child to wear such foolishness on a T-shirt must be supporting acts of terrorism, even if in fact they are not.                        

The Canadian Criminal Code does not criminalize terrorist activity per se and does not make membership in a terrorist group a crime.  It does, however, create a series of crimes which, broadly speaking, make it an offence to engage in conduct that facilitates, promotes, assists or otherwise encourages terrorist activities or terrorist groups.         

Is wearing a T-shirt that states; “I am a bomb” promoting terrorism?  Well for one thing, it could cause a panic and causing a panic because you have convinced those around you that you have a bomb could be construed as an act of terrorism and if so, it would therefore be against the law.

Section 83.18, subsection (4) of the Canadian Criminal Code provides as follows:

In determining whether an accused participates in or contributes to any activity of a terrorist group, the court may consider, among other factors, whether the accused

(a)          uses a name, word, symbol or other representation that identifies or is associated with the terrorist group.

If a person in Canada wears a T-shirt in which he had stamped on it; “I am a jihadist with Al Qaeda” is he promoting terrorism? I don’t think so. If on his T-shirt that he is wearing it says; “I am a bomb” then he is definitely promoting terrorism but not a specific terrorist group and that being as it is, he is not violating the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Fear is a distressing emotion usually aroused by some impending danger, evil, or even anxiety. The threat can be either real or imagined. Obviously, anyone who sees someone wearing a T-shirt that has the words, “I am a bomb” stamped on it, will illicit fear in the mind of that person who sees it because he or she doesn’t know if the person wearing the T-shirt has a concealed bomb on his or her body.

Would wearing such a T-shirt in Canada be against the law?   

There are limits to the protection given to us under our Freedom of Speech legislation however, if a speech in question causes harm to others, it can be restricted. For example, you can't erroneously yell “FIRE!” in a crowded theater when there is no fire in the theatre so it follows that you cannot wear a T-shirt that says that you are a bomb even if there is no bomb on your person.   In doing so, in Canada, you would be breaking the law.

In the United States in some of the states, they have statutes for Disorderly Conduct, Breach of Peace or Creating a Public Disturbance which contains such wording as “Causes inconvenience, annoyance or alarm which could mean almost anything that may cause fear or anxiety to anyone. Wearing such a T-shirt in public could be considered a crime and rightly so.