Moroccan imam Hassan Ekuesen arrived in Casablanca the day before yesterday, Friday, January 13, 2023, coming from Zaventem airport in Brussels, after a decision to deport him from Belgium.
Social media activists circulated a video clip of the moment Ekwesen arrived at Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca, in implementation of a decision issued at the end of July 2022 by the French authorities to deport him because of what Paris considered "pursuing anti-secular rhetoric."
✅ Hassan #Iquioussen to his son's arrival at the international aéroport Mohammed V of Casablanca 👇
"This is the most honorable man on earth..."
✔️ Accueili as n'importe as the originaire of #Maroc with respect and dignity...
✔️ The same Meme ravi de l'accueil qu'on lui a réservé ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Nj7VE8jaDm
- FRANCE MAGHREB 2 (@FMAGHREB2) January 14, 2023
Hassan Ekwesen said in his first statement that he "has become the freest man in the world" after his arrival in the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco from Belgium, adding that the conditions for his movement were "very good."
The local newspaper, Magris, quoted Ekoissen's sister as saying, "Sheikh Hassan Ekoissen will live with me in Casablanca."
Ekwesen, 58, took refuge in Belgium, months ago, after Paris decided to deport him to Morocco because of "comments inciting hatred and discrimination," as the French government put it.
Earlier, a Belgian court refused to hand over the Moroccan imam to the French authorities, after he appeared before the Belgian judiciary against the backdrop of a European arrest warrant issued by France, which is pursuing him on charges of "evading the implementation of a deportation decision."
Through her Twitter account, the Belgian Minister of State for Immigration and Asylum, Nicole de Moore, announced the official deportation of Ekoissen, who she described as a "hate preacher," according to her claim.
Le predicateur de la haine Iquioussen a été renvoyé au Maroc aujourd'hui.
Pas de place pour les extremistes étrangers in our pays.
Merci to @alexanderdecroo, @hadjalahbib, @AnneliesVl, @VincentVQ and the French autorités for bonne cooperation.
- Nicole de Moor (@Nicole_demoor) January 13, 2023
Who is Imam Hasan Ekwesen?
Hassan Ekoissen was born in the town of Denine, on the outskirts of Valenciennes, France, in 1964. He holds Moroccan citizenship, and has had French residency since 1992, which expired in 2021, and France refused to renew it.
He obtained a bachelor's degree in the Arabic language and a master's degree in history, and then devoted himself to preaching and teaching Islam. He is married and has 5 children and 15 grandchildren, all of whom live in France.
On July 28, 2022, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan announced the decision to expel Hassan Equisen, justifying this on his Twitter account that the imam "has been adopting hate speech against the values of France for years, and contradicts the principles of secularism and equality between men and women."
On August 4, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights announced that it had rejected a request to suspend the procedure for expelling the preacher Hassan Ekwesen to Morocco, and the next day the Administrative Court announced the suspension of the decision to deport Ekwesen, considering that his deportation would "affect his private and family life."
The French government did not give up and resorted to presenting the case to the Council of State (the highest judicial institution in France), which agreed on August 30, 2022, to deport Equestin, and the police raided the imam’s house in Lorches, near Valenciennes in northern France, in order to arrest and deport him, but he managed Escape to Belgium.