A faithful arrives at the Pantin mosque, October 20, 2020. -

CHRISTOPHE SAIDI / SIPA

To "promote appeasement", the imam of the Pantin mosque announced Sunday on Facebook to "withdraw from [its] activities".

Accused by the authorities of being "involved in the Islamist movement", he justifies his decision out of concern for "the interests of the faithful and the sustainability" of the place of worship.

This has been closed since Wednesday for "six months" by order of the Minister of the Interior.

This decision was confirmed by the head of the mosque and the Muslim Federation of Pantin, M'hammed Henniche.

The Pantin mosque is frequented by around 1,300 faithful and was closed by an order issued by the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis.

This Monday afternoon, the administrative court of Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) was to study the appeal filed by the Muslim Federation of Pantin, opposed to this closure.

Disturbed personality of the imam

The authorities accuse this mosque of having shared on its Facebook page, on October 9, a video showing the father of a 4th year student at the Bois-d'Aulne college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines) outraged by a course on freedom of expression given on October 5 and 6 by Samuel Paty.

He gave the name of the teacher and that of his establishment.

According to the ongoing investigation, he exchanged messages with the terrorist who beheaded Samuel Paty.

This closure decision is also based on the "links with Salafism" maintained by the mosque, its attendance by "people involved in the jihadist movement" and the troubled personality of an imam, Ibrahim Doucouré, according to the decree. .

"Involved in the radical Islamist movement of Ile-de-France", trained for two years in a "fundamentalist institute" in Yemen, reports the closure order, this imam also educated three of his children in an underground school, in Bobigny.

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  • Radicalization

  • Mosque

  • Paris

  • Puppet

  • Samuel paty

  • Conflans attack

  • Society