An Ethiopian man has been sentenced to four months in jail for making a bomb joke aboard a Kenya Airways flight.
BBC reports that Chifraye Bekele’s joke made in April led to the cancellation of the Johannesburg-bound flight.
This also led to a three-hour shutdown of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
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On Thursday last week, Magistrate Christine Njagi found Bekele guilty of “imperiling the safety of aircraft and persons on board”.
Mr Bekele is said to have told the joke to a flight attendant as she was closing an overhead locker.
“Why are you scared? You think it’s a bomb?” he joked.
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After consulting with her colleagues, the captain decided to taxi back and have the plane searched for any explosives.
While testifying via a translator, Bekele denied making the joke as he only spoke Amharic and not English.
He was however sentenced to four months in jail or a Sh100,000 fine. He could not raise the money.
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