Brother-in-law of Charlie Hebdo killer is arrested while trying to get to Syria

A relative of one of the jihadist killers of journalists at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has been arrested in Bulgaria after trying to get to Syria, a judicial source said Sunday.

Mourad Hamyd, brother-in-law of Cherif Kouachi who was behind the January 2015 attack in Paris that killed 12, was first detained in Turkey last month on suspicion of seeking to enter Syria, the source said.

The 20-year-old student was then expelled to neighbouring Bulgaria, where he was sent to a detention centre on July 28, the source said, confirming a report in the Journal du Dimanche, a Sunday newspaper.

The source said French anti-terrorist investigators are preparing a European arrest warrant for Hamyd, who lived with his family in the northern French town of Charleville-Mezieres.

Hamyd’s sister was Cherif Kouachi’s wife. In the aftermath of the attack, Hamyd was wrongly identified on social media as being one of three Charlie Hebdo killers.

He was held and questioned for 48 hours before being released without charge. Kouachi carried out the killings with his brother Said.