An Ethiopian man has been sentenced to four months in jail after making a bob joke while on a Kenya Airways Plane.
The joke by Chifraye Bekele forced the trip to Johannesburg cancelled early in April and a three hour shutdown at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
According to the evidence produced to the magistrate, the joke was lame and jeopardized the safety of hundreds of passengers that were on board en route to South Africa.
“The joke was out of place and could have put the lives of many people in danger. You can imagine the number of passengers who were frightened by such utterances,” said the magistrate, Christine Njagi.
It was believed that the passenger made the utterances to the flight attendant while closing an overhead locker.
He asked her while she was scared, insinuating that it wasn’t like there was a bomb in there.
“Why are you scared, you think it is a bomb,” said the passenger.
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It was then that the attendant made consultations with her colleagues and the flight cancelled while the whole airport was at a standstill still investigating the matter.
He was taken into custody immediately until the case was heard and a ruling passed.
He was however granted a fine of Ksh. 100,000 or four months in jail of which he opted for the latter since he was not capable of raising the amount.
In his defense, he argued that he did not know English hence there was no way he could have made the utterances.
Some jokes have restrictions especially in sensitive areas like the airport, police stations or in a foreign land.
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There have been instances of passengers perishing in the air due to bomb and such like mistakes, hence it cannot be taken lightly.
For instance, in 2004, a British student almost faced 15 years in Custody for making a joke about carrying a bomb in her luggage.
She was saved after making an agreement to donate 1,000 dollars to a 911 Fund call.
This was a lesson to jokers and comedians, although some words come out unintentionally, people should be wary of what they say when in certain places.
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