France: justice orders the reopening of the great mosque of Beauvais
The French Minister of the Interior, during a press conference at the Elysee Palace, in Paris on April 28, 2021. AP - Gonzalo Fuentes
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Last December, the prefecture of Oise, north of Paris, ordered the closure of the great mosque of Beauvais.
In question, the sermons of an imam whom the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had publicly accused of "
attacking the republican model and France
" and of promoting jihad.
Five months later, the Administrative Court of Amiens ordered its immediate reopening, deeming the changes made since the closure sufficient.
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The implicated imam, a convert trained in Saudi Arabia, was ousted in December, even before the decision to close the mosque.
The names of the two monks tipped to succeed him have been submitted to the Ministry of the Interior, and “
no unfavorable element against them has been identified
”, points out the court.
The Espoir et Fraternité association, which manages the mosque, has also deleted all the sermons of the dismissed imam from its social networks.
The vice-president of the association who had relayed them also withdrew.
Finally, its statutes have been modified to recall “
its attachment to republican values
”.
So many changes likely to reassure the authorities, but which did not prevent the prefecture of Oise from refusing a new request for reopening in February.
For the court, this decision “
carries a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the freedom of worship
”.
Nearly 400 faithful who usually attend the mosque had no place since December to meet to pray.
The government multiplies the closures of mosques
, with the stated objective of "
fighting against Islamic separatism
".
Twenty-two closures thus took place in 2020 and 2021 alone. In December, the Ministry of the Interior even launched a "
massive action
" to place 76 mosques under control.
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