French mother in court for son Jihad's 'bomb' shirt

A French mother on Wednesday defended herself for dressing her three-year-old son in a T-shirt reading "I am a bomb" and "Born on September 11."

Bouchra Bagour, 35, is on trial in Avignon in southern France on charges of "glorifying crime" after sending her boy, called Jihad, to school wearing the top.

A ruling in the case is expected on April 10.

On Wednesday, Bagour told the court she admitted the move was "tactless" but insisted it was not meant as a provocation.

She said she simply wanted to highlight her son's September 11 birthday and did not intend to refer to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Her brother Zeyad Bagour, who gave the T-shirt to the boy, is a co-defendant in the case. 

"We were never trying to claim responsibility for [the 9/11 attacks] or defend a cause," he told the court on Wednesday.

Prosecutors said there was no doubt about the meaning of the T-shirt.

"Who can claim that this is not a direct and scandalous reference to terrorism?" prosecutor Olivier Couvignon told the court.

The two face up to five years in prison and fines of up to 45,000 euros each.

(FRANCE 24 with wires)