"The police made no attempt to intervene, even with such an odd traveler, a minor alone," the woman from Nice, named Nadine, said.
"No one asked any questions as the 16-year old boy got on a plane to Turkey," said the mother's lawyer, Samia Maktouf.
Nadine said she has decided to bring charges against the police at the French Administrative Tribunal for the incident, which occurred about a year ago. The mother maintains that police should have questioned the boy who, although flying to Turkey from Nice, clearly intended to cross over to Syria from there.
The French Interior Ministry responded to the charges. "The young man had the right to go to Turkey with his identity card. What were the police supposed to do? Deprive him of his right to free movement, without any legal basis?" the newspaper reported. It is the first time charges have been brought against police for these reasons.
The French parliament in October adopted an "anti-terrorism law" aimed at stopping French nationals from traveling abroad to join terrorists fighting in Syria, Iraq and other regions.
