Lionel Gougelot, edited by Ophélie Artaud 08:50, September 01, 2022

Two days after the validation of his expulsion to Morocco by the Council of State, Imam Iquioussen remains untraceable.

According to the first hypotheses, flight to Belgium seems privileged.

If Morocco has also suspended its consular pass, the imam risks three years in prison for having evaded a decision of removal.

What country is he in, where will he go?

Imam Hassan Iquioussen is still nowhere to be found.

On Tuesday, the Council of State validated his expulsion from France to Morocco.

But the searches carried out at his home near Valenciennes yielded nothing.

On Wednesday, the prefect of the North, Georges François Leclerc, provided details on the preacher and the thesis of the flight to Belgium seems to be confirmed.

Residing not far from the Belgian border, Hassan Iquioussen has very well been able to pass through Belgium discreetly in recent days.

Hypothesis confirmed by the prefect of the North.

“If he is arrested, he will be placed in administrative detention”

"The obviously privileged scenario is a flight to Belgium by Mr. Iquioussen, but it is up to the magistrate who is directing this investigation to determine it."

But nothing filter on the elements which make it possible to support this thesis.

If so, the authorities are counting on international judicial cooperation to catch the fugitive imam.

"Either he is in a foreign country, in which case international judicial cooperation will take place, or he is on French territory. And if he is arrested, he will be immediately placed in administrative detention."

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It remains to be seen why the preacher was able to slip into the hands of the authorities.

Response from the prefect: before the confirmation of his expulsion, there were no legal means to set up close police surveillance.

"There were several places where he was likely to be at the same time. We operate in an administrative framework in which it is impossible, apart from cases of flagrante delicto, to exercise permanent surveillance. What I know is that is that as soon as he evaded a ministerial order of expulsion, Mr. Iquioussen became an offender."

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- Imam Iquioussen: why did Morocco suspend its consular pass?

And in fact, for evading a deportation decision, Hassan Iquioussen faces three years in prison.

Wednesday evening, the Minister of the Interior confirmed on France 5 that flight to Belgium was the preferred scenario.

Gérald Darmanin assures that Hassan Iquioussen will not be able to return to France.

At the same time, Morocco suspended the consular pass which precisely allowed the expulsion of the imam.