Charlie Hebdo: Hamyd Mourad speaks of shock at being wrongly named as massacre suspect
The 18-year-old said he had 'nothing to do' with attack by his brother-in-law
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Your support makes all the difference.The teenager wrongly named as a third suspect for the Charlie Hebdo massacre has spoken of his shock at being linked to the attack despite being at school all day.
Hamyd Mourad, who is the brother-in-law of gunman Chérif Kouachi, handed himself into custody after being named by police on Wednesday as friends took to Twitter to protest his innocence.
He was released on Friday evening without charge, hours after Chérif and his brother Said Kouachi and their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly were shot dead in separate raids by police.
Speaking to AFP, Mr Mourad described himself as a normal 18-year-old who lives with his parents, saying he had “nothing to do with this whole thing” and hopes it will not affect his future.
He described his relationship with Chérif as “fairly distant”. The al-Qaeda-affiliated gunman was married to his sister, who was also taken into custody on Wednesday and released on Saturday.
“I was stunned, completely overwhelmed by the events,” the student told AFP in the presence of his lawyer and family members.
“I'm in shock, people said horrible and false things about me on social media even though I am a normal student who lives quietly with his parents."
Police released his name as the Kourachi brothers went on the run after massacring 12 people at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday.
It was unclear how he was linked to the attack, with some reports suggesting he could have been a getaway driver, but classmates quickly took to Twitter to confirm Mr Mourad was in school all day, using the hashtag #MouradHamydInnocent.
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