Eight-year-old boy detained by police after defending Charlie Hebdo attack

An eight-year-old boy from the south of France who claimed to support the men who attacked satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has been detained and questioned by police for defending terrorism.

Fabienne Lewandowski, deputy director for public security in the Alpes-Maritimes region, said the boy declared “I am with the terrorists” and refused to take part in the national minute of silence for the victims.

A lawyer for the child says the decision to question him at a police station shows a “collective hysteria”.

The storming of the magazine’s offices left 12 people dead and launched three days of terror in the Paris region that killed a total of 20 people, including the gunmen.

Dozens of people have been arrested and accused of defending terrorism since the attacks.