The French Interior Ministry began taking measures to close another mosque as part of a campaign that has been going on for two years, after accusing the mosque's imam of extremism and hostility to French society, according to local press reports.
The French channel "BFM" and the newspaper "Le Figaro" said that the Ministry of the Interior had started procedures to close the Obernai mosque, located in the Bas-Rhin region.
The ministry accuses the mosque's imam of carrying out extremist activities, taking an anti-French position and making provocative comments against "the values of the republic."
For his part, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said yesterday - Wednesday - in a tweet on Twitter with a link to the news published by Le Figaro - that the fight against what he called "Islamic separatism" continues at the behest of the President of the Republic.
He added that the authorities closed 23 places of worship belonging to the "separatists" - as he described it - over two years.
A la demande du Président de la République, la lutte contre le séparatisme islamiste se poursuit.
Ces deux dernières années, 23 lieux de culte séparatistes ont été fermés.https://t.co/942Rv5BJGw
— Gerald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) September 28, 2022
On January 24, a special committee in the French National Assembly (Parliament) approved the controversial draft "Principles for Strengthening Respect for the Values of the Republic", which was first defined as "the fight against separatist Islam".
The bill faces criticism such as that it targets Muslims in France, and almost imposes restrictions on all aspects of their lives.
It provides for the supervision of mosques and the associations responsible for their management, and for the financing of Muslim civil organizations.
It also imposes restrictions on the freedom of families to provide education to their children at home, at a time when the state prohibits the wearing of headscarves in pre-university education institutions.