France: accused of hate speech, an imam deported to Tunisia
Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi was arrested this Thursday, February 22, to be placed in a detention center before being expelled from French territory.
This expulsion follows a controversial video of a sermon published on social networks
Screenshot of the Tik Tok account of Tunisian imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi.
© Screenshot / Tik Tok / Mahjoub Mahjoubi
By: RFI Follow
Advertisement
Read more
This Thursday evening, February 22, the Tunisian imam residing in the south
of France
, Mahjoub Mahjoubi was deported to Tunisia “
less than 12 hours after his arrest
” in Bagnols, announced the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
In a message posted
on France stronger
”.
The radical “Imam” Mahjoub Mahjoubi has just been expelled from the national territory, less than 12 hours after his arrest.
This is the demonstration that the Immigration law, without which such a rapid expulsion would not have been possible, makes France stronger.
We don’t…
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 22, 2024
Earlier in the day, Mahjoub Mahjoubi “
was arrested at his home by the police, who notified him of an expulsion order from the Ministry of the Interior, with immediate administrative detention in the Paris region
,” his lawyer, Me Samir Hamroun,
announced
to BFMTV
, according to whom his client is “
stunned
” and “
upset
”.
The lawyer added that he was going to “
immediately set about contesting the expulsion order
”, within the 48 hour period available to him.
He was arrested at his home, in the presence of minor children.
It was a stupor.
They saw their father being handcuffed, taken away, his wife too.
She was able to call me at the last minute so that I could inquire about certain details of the procedure - namely that we were subject to a 48-hour dispute period.
I will refer the matter to the Paris administrative court as quickly as possible to request a suspension of the Minister of the Interior's order.
01:00
Me Samir Hamroun, lawyer of Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi
Laura Martel
“
Instructions were given to issue a ministerial decree of expulsion
against this radical “imam”
with unacceptable remarks and he was the subject of a home visit and an arrest
,” the Minister of Justice then confirmed on 'Interior.
“
Without
the immigration law
, this would not have been possible.
Firmness is the rule
,” added Gérald Darmanin.
The “
tricolor
” described as a “
satanic flag
”
The
controversy surrounding this imam
of Tunisian origin erupted last Sunday after the publication on social networks of a video of sermons considered by the French authorities as “
calls to hatred
”.
In it, he describes the “
tricolor flag
” – without specifying whether it was the French flag – as a “
satanic flag
”, tells our correspondent in Marseille,
Siam Spencer
.
The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin then requested the withdrawal of his residence permit.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi is imam at the At-Tawba mosque in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, a town of 18,000 inhabitants in Gard.
First targeted by a preliminary investigation, opened Monday for advocating terrorism and inciting hatred by the Nîmes public prosecutor's office, he was finally arrested this Thursday noon to be moved to an administrative detention center in the Paris region, with a view to potential expulsion.
For his part, Mahjoub Mahjoubi defended himself in the press, explaining that he had made a slip of the tongue on this famous video.
He claims to have meant multi-colored flag and not tricolor.
But according to the prefect of Gard, Jérôme Bonet, the imam has been followed for several months by the French authorities.
It is this monitoring which justified the reaction of the Minister of the Interior, noting “
drifts
” in several recent sermons by the imam.
Living in France since the mid-1980s, married and father of four children, Mahjoub Mahjoubi had in fact been in Gérald Darmanin's crosshairs for several days.
Also read: Immigration law: “The xenophobic intention of this text was beyond doubt,” says Benoît Hamon
(
And with
AFP)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your inbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Share :
Continue reading on the same themes:
France
Religion
Islam