Brother-in-law of Charlie Hebdo killer detained in Bulgaria

The brother-in-law of one of the men who attacked the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris has been jailed in Bulgaria, and authorities say he is suspected of trying to join extremists in Syria.

The brother-in-law of one of the men who attacked the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper in Paris has been jailed in Bulgaria, and authorities say he is suspected of trying to join extremists in Syria.

Partially ripped of stickers reading "I am Charlie" in remembrance of the victims of the terrorist attacks against the Charlie Hebdo magazine are seen on the wooden fence of a construction site in a street in the old city of Strasbourg. (Reuters)

Mourad Hamyd was initially suspected of a role in the January 2015 attack on the paper, but his high school classmates launched a successful social media campaign to clear his name, saying he was in class at the time. “I am a student who lives peacefully with his parents,” he said then.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday that someone close to Hamyd flagged his probable trip to Syria, and he was detained near the border in late July.

Hamyd’s sister was married to Cherif Kouachi, one of two brothers who carried out the deadly attack at the Charlie Hebdo offices.