Construction of a mosque in Strasbourg: Darmanin opposes a grant from the town hall

Gérald Darmanin accused the EELV Strasbourg town hall of financing "a mosque supported by a federation which defends political Islam" the day after a vote approving "the principle of a subsidy" of more than 2.5 million euros , and requested the referral to justice.

"The green town hall of Strasbourg finances a mosque supported by a federation which refused to sign the charter of principles of Islam in France and which defends a political Islam", reacted Gérald Darmanin in a tweet published on Monday night in Tuesday. 

"I can't wait for everyone to open their eyes and for the separatism law to be soon voted and promulgated," he added.

"I was very surprised by the fact that the Minister of the Interior addressed me by way of tweet (...), especially since this mosque project (...) is an old project, it does not date from my term of office "but" about ten years ", reacted in the afternoon the mayor, Jeanne Barseghian, during a press briefing during which she defended the deliberation adopted on Monday by City Council.

Gérald Darmanin raises his voice

If Gérald Darmanin "has things and elements to transmit to us" on the Islamic Confederation Millî Görüs (CIMG), bearer of this mosque project, "let it do", she added, explaining that the prefect from the current Bas-Rhin, Josianne Chevalier, "has never alerted in any way to this particular project".

At the end of the morning, the minister raised the tone again by announcing, still on Twitter, that he had asked the prefect of the Grand Est and Bas-Rhin region to refer this deliberation of the Strasbourg city council to administrative justice.

"Even if the separatism law has not yet been adopted, given the seriousness of the decisions taken by the green municipality of Strasbourg, I asked the prefect to refer the decision to grant a grant to the administrative judge," wrote Gerald Darmanin.

The actual payment of the grant subject to a new vote

The Strasbourg City Council adopted Monday evening "the principle of a subsidy" of more than 2.5 million euros for the construction of a mosque by Millî Görüs (CIMG), a reputed association close to Turkey.

This subsidy represents "10% of the amount of the work", noted in the vote Jeanne Barseghian, the majority of whom said that it was a usual percentage for the subsidization of places of worship in the Alsatian capital.

The actual payment of the subsidy, criticized by the municipal opposition, must be subject to a new vote.

The elected ecologist proposed Monday evening to integrate into the text several conditions, such as the prior signing of the Charter of Principles for Islam in France or guarantees on the transparency of funds intended to finance the site.

However, in January, the Millî Görüs association refused, along with other CFCM federations, to sign this charter.