Gérald Darmanin will meet Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, author of a polemical book on the Muslim Brotherhood

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: Firas Abdullah / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu Agency via AFP 18:06 p.m., May 11, 2023

The researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) was to present this Friday at the famous Parisian University of the Sorbonne her latest book on the movement of the Muslim Brotherhood, "The Brotherhood and its networks, the investigation", published in January. But she announced Tuesday via Twitter that "the dean of the Faculty of Letters of the Sorbonne had requested the suspension of (her) conference (...) for 'security' reasons."

>> READ ALSO - Accused of Islamophobia, Florence Bergeaud-Blackler denounces the "cowardice" of the academic world

An "impediment to work"

"However, there was no demonstration against the event," she said, deploring an "impediment to work and to account for (her) work". The postponement of the conference sparked strong reactions on Wednesday in France, while Florence Bergeaud-Blackler had to be placed under police protection after death threats, according to her lawyer. The Ministry of Higher Education and Research told AFP on Wednesday that Florence Bergeaud-Blackler would be received "soon", considering "intolerable that academic freedom could be called into question by the slightest threat against it".

For her part, the researcher interviewed Thursday on Europe 1 denounces the lack of support from the public authorities and the research community: "The ministry and the CNRS tweeted in my defense, but no direct relationship (...) I did not receive a call from the Minister of Higher Education and Research, the CNRS or my laboratory. The support is quite timid." According to her, "the University is one of the first targets of Brotherhood entryism". The postponement of his conference is "a way of giving credence to the thesis of my critics who accuse me of Islamophobia or racism".

>> LISTEN - Florence Bergeaud-Blackler: "My work for 30 years has never been the subject of such a cabal"

The Grand Orient of France supports the anthropologist

In a statement on Thursday, the Grand Orient de France (GODF) said it "fully" supported the anthropologist, judging that "the censorship of the freedom of expression of a scientist whose work is carried out within the framework of a public body, under the auspices of the Republic, is an attack on all of our freedoms and democracy". Founded in 1928 in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood movement carries the project of a conservative political Islam. He is now considered "terrorist" in Egypt.