Darmanin announces "massive action" against separatism targeting "76 mosques"

Gérald Darmanin announced on Twitter on Wednesday evening the launch, in the “coming days”, of a “massive and unprecedented action against separatism” targeting “76 mosques”, confirming information from

.

"In accordance with my instructions, the state services will launch a massive and unprecedented action against separatism", writes the Minister of the Interior, adding: "76 mosques suspected of separatism will be controlled in the coming days and those which will have to be closed will be ".

In accordance with my instructions, the state services will launch massive and unprecedented action against separatism.

76 mosques suspected of separatism will be checked in the coming days and those that will have to be closed will be. Https://t.co/0R3RQ2zFoi

- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) December 2, 2020

18 places of worship targeted by "immediate actions" 

Gérald Darmanin sent all the prefects a note on November 27 detailing the action to be taken, according to information from Figaro confirmed to AFP by the minister's entourage.

In this document, the minister targets 76 places of worship, 16 in the Paris region and 60 in the rest of France, to be checked.

Of these 76 places of worship, 18 will be targeted by "immediate actions" at the request of the Minister of the Interior, which can go until closure.

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Of these 18 "targets", three are in Seine-Saint-Denis: one ignored a closure decision taken by the mayor of the town, a second officially closed in 2019 continued to organize prayers and the third a was targeted by an unfavorable opinion from the security commission, without the State verifying the effective closure of the mosque.

Of the 15 other locations, 5 are located in the greater Parisian suburbs or in the immediate vicinity of Île-de-France (3 in Val-d'Oise, one in Seine-et-Marne and one in Oise) and 10 in the region (including 2 in Hérault, 2 in Vaucluse, the rest in particular in Haute-Garonne, Moselle, Nord, Bas-Rhin, Var).

The announcement of this operation comes a few days before the Council of Ministers examines next Wednesday the bill "strengthening republican principles" which aims to fight against "separatism" and radical Islamism.

For Aurélien Pradié, Darmanin is "not at all up to the situation"

In addition, the number 3 of LR, Aurélien Pradié, estimated that Gérald Darmanin "is not at all up to the situation" by evoking the recent controversies.

He lambasted the "rooster statements" of the Minister of the Interior, who was a member of LR before entering the government.

"The role of a Minister of the Interior is to appease the country" or "Gerald Darmanin and Emmanuel Macron will remain as the minister and the president of the disorder," he said in a question. - responses on Facebook.

Mocking the gap between "Gerald Darmanin's cocky declarations and actions, which are weak", he lambasted the "little personal political game" of the Minister of the Interior and his "big tunes, which he is not not able to assume ".