A faithful in front of the Pantin mosque, October 20, 2020. -

CHRISTOPHE SAIDI / SIPA

The Montreuil administrative court on Tuesday validated the decision ordered by the Ministry of the Interior to close the Pantin mosque (Seine-Saint-Denis) for six months, accused by the authorities of having relayed remarks that led to the assassination of Samuel Paty.

The Muslim Federation of Pantin will appeal.

"It does not appear, in the state of the investigation, that the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis would have seriously and clearly illegal interference with fundamental freedoms" by temporarily closing the place of worship "for the purposes of preventing the reiteration of such acts, ”said the court in a judgment consulted by AFP.

A video shared on Facebook

The authorities accuse the mosque of having shared, on October 9 on its Facebook page, a video showing the father of a student of a college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines) indignant after a course on freedom of expression provided by Samuel Paty.

On October 16, the history and geography teacher was beheaded by an 18-year-old refugee of Chechen Russian origin who accused him of showing caricatures of Muhammad to his students.

During the hearing Monday, M'hammed Henniche, head of the mosque and president of the Muslim Federation of Pantin at the initiative of this request, said he was "overwhelmed", repeatedly expressing his regret at this " heinous crime ”.

An imam linked to the radical movement

"The fact remains that he has shown, in any event, incomprehensible negligence, while his position and his functions should have led him to more restraint," said the administrative court in his judgment.

“This dissemination is also part of a context of entryism of the radical movement within the Great Mosque of Pantin.

It results from the instruction that Mr. Doucouré, alias Abou Talha, one of the imams of the mosque of Pantin officiating at the Friday prayers, is involved in the radical Islamist movement of Ile-de-France ”, added the tribunal.

The imam announced Sunday to withdraw from his activities.

The Muslim Federation of Pantin, through its lawyers, announced in a statement its intention to appeal this decision to the Council of State.

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