Slain Charlie Hebdo Editor's Lover Releases Book Criticising Islamists' Treatment of Women

The partner of slain Charlie Hebdo editor Charb, Jeannette Bougrab

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Jeannette Bougrab, ex-lover of Charlie Hebdo editor Charb, claims her dead partner's entourage cut her out because her Right-wing credentials didn't fit his image as a Leftist "womanising bachelor"

Jeanette Bougrab, the ex-lover of slain Charlie Hebdo editor Charb, has released a book criticising Muslim countries’ treatment of women and Islamists who brandish the Prophet Mohammed's marriage to a child as sanctioning child brides.

Ms Bougrab, 41, a minister of Algerian origin in the previous administration of conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy, also hit back at the entourage of Charb, whose real name was Stéphane Charbonnier, saying they had excommunicated her after his death because she was a Right-winger.

In Maudites (Cursed), out on Wednesday, Ms Bougrab wrote about what she says is the misfortune of many girls born in Muslim countries, from Yemen to Pakistan. She paid tribute to a series of women including her mother, Zohra Trari, who was forcibly married at 13, abused, and today has terminal cancer.

“Is it blasphemy to say we should move away from the archaic practices of seventh century Arabia?,” she asked, referring to the Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to Aisha, adding that she has no intention of dropping her fight for secularism and women’s rights. Charlie Hebdo was targeted by Islamists after publishing front page cartoons depicting the Prophet. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Friday, May 15, 2015