Europe1 .fr with AFP/Photo credits: MAGALI COHEN / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 12:39 p.m., February 23, 2024
The imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze in Gard, Mahjoub Mahjoubi, was arrested Thursday evening then expelled a few hours later to Tunisia, announced Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, on X. The cleric declared wanting to take legal action to return to France to his family.
A Tunisian imam, expelled Thursday by France where the authorities accuse him of having made hateful remarks, denounced Friday an "arbitrary" decision and announced that he was going to take legal action to have it annulled and return to his family .
Imam of the small town of Bagnols-sur-Cèze in the south of France, Mahjoub Mahjoubi was arrested and then deported Thursday to Tunisia where he arrived shortly before midnight aboard a flight from Paris.
Living in France since the mid-1980s, married and father of five children, the imam was in the crosshairs of the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who requested the withdrawal of his residence permit on Sunday.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi was notably accused of broadcasting a video in which he described the "tricolor flag" - without specifying whether it was the French flag - as a "satanic flag" which would have "no value with Allah" (God in Arabic).
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“Slip of the tongue”, “clumsiness of language”: Imam Mahjoubi’s mea culpa does not convince the prefect of Gard
“Firmness is the rule”
He defended himself by evoking a "slip of the tongue", explaining that he was in reality denouncing the rivalries between supporters of Maghreb countries during the recent African Cup of Nations (CAN) football.
“I will fight to return to France where I have lived for 40 years,” the imam told AFP by telephone from the town of Soliman, about thirty km east of the capital Tunis.
“My lawyer is going to take legal action in France and if the court does not do me justice, I will appeal, and then I will appeal to the European Court” of human rights, he added.
“I did not insult the Jewish community or the French flag,” added the imam, aged 52, whose wife and five children are of French nationality.
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Who is Mahjoub Mahjoubi, imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze whose expulsion Gérald Darmanin is demanding?
Gérald Darmanin affirmed on Thursday on .
“Firmness is the rule,” added the minister, castigating a “radical ‘imam’ with unacceptable remarks.”
“My expulsion was based on an arbitrary decision by the Minister of the Interior. Mr. Darmanin is trying to create buzz around the immigration law by using Mahjoub Mahjoubi,” retorted the imam in his statements to AFP .