A man raises a pen during a rally in support of the victims of today's terrorist attack on French satyrical newspaper Charlie Hebdo
A man raises a pen during a rally in support of the victims of today's terrorist attack on French satyrical newspaper Charlie Hebdo Getty Images

Classmates of the teenager who was alleged to be the gunmens' driver in yesterday's (7 January) attack on Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris, are protesting his innocence by claiming he was in class at the time the attack occurred.

Hamyd Mourad, 18, handed himself in at approximately 11pm (local France time) on Wednesday (7 January) in his home town of Charleville-Mézières after seeing his name in the news and on social media, after being identified as one of the three alleged suspects.

Since then, Mourad's friends and acquaintances have taken to social media using the hashtag ‪#MouradHamydInnocent, insisting he has an alibi since he was in a class at the time the attack happened.

We cannot let an innocent young person have his life ruined. He was innocent and in his classroom #MouradHamydInnocent

— Steve (@mareexanguilt) January 8, 2015

French media outlets are also facing a social media backlash following the spread of the hashtag ‪#MouradHamydInnocent that has been trending in France today, (8 January) with some people even claiming that Mourad has been let go.

#MouradHamydInnocent is another disturbing side effect of the pressure to feed the masses (we the retweeters) with constant "event updates".

— Sean Murphy (@africafeed) January 8, 2015

Reports that Hamyd Mourad is released after his aliby checked out #MouradHamydInnocent

— Mocro Ab (@MocroAb) January 8, 2015
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