“Satanic flag”: the procedure for expulsion of the imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze promises to be complex

Jean-Baptiste Marty // Photo credit: ROMAIN LAFABREGUE / AFP 7:45 a.m., February 20, 2024

The remarks shocked part of the French political class and public opinion. During a sermon, Mahjoub Mahjoubi, imam in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, described the “tricolor flag” as a “satanic flag”, without however specifying whether he was talking about the French flag or not. Comments denounced by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin who requested his expulsion from the territory, while nearly 9 out of 10 French people believe that imams holding anti-French sermons should be expelled according to a recent CSA survey for Europe 1/CNews and

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And if the imam assures that it is an awkwardness of language in the columns of 

, Gérald Darmanin assures him “that no call to hatred will go unanswered”.

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Three reports in just a few months

Especially since the man, born in Tunis and arrived in France in 1986, is not his first attempt. This member of the Association of Muslims of Gard Rhone has already been the subject of three reports since last November. He was thus the subject of a first report in connection with the company managed by his wife and is suspected of being the main manager even though he has been banned from doing so since a 2015 decision. A second report is linked to the administration of his mosque in Gard. Finally, the third report concerns the famous preaching denounced by Gérald Darmanin.

If the eviction procedure file is currently in the hands of the Gard prefecture, the legal battle promises to be tough. Because the Tunisian imam, whose residence permit expires in August 2029, father of five children and married to a French woman, could increase the number of appeals in the event of expulsion. The prefecture has therefore been examining his situation for several days to find out how to withdraw his residence permit, without hindering French law.