France: Moroccan Imam, Subject to Expulsion, on the Run

A few weeks ago, we reported that an imam in France, Hassan Iquioussen, was being deported to Morocco as a result of his incendiary rhetoric and hate speech directed at Jews. A judge temporarily suspended that order, but now France has been given the green light to deport the imam. However, he has apparently absconded.

The below article from today's Le Monde is translated by Fousesquawk.

https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2022/08/30/expulsion-de-l-imam-iquioussen-vers-le-maroc-le-conseil-d-etat-donne-son-aval_6139517_3224.html

Imam Hassan Iquioussen can be expelled to Morocco, the Council of State having given its approval

The Minister of Interior had asked to have lifted an administrative order of suspension of the expulsion request for this preacher, accused of  giving "a speech with anti-Semitic content."

Le Monde

Posted today at 15:32, updated at 17:41.

Caption: The president of the association that runs the Escaudain Mosque, near Valenciennes, Hassan Isquioussen (at left) along with a preacher, 18 June 2004- FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP

Imam Hassan Iquioussen is on the run and has been placed on the list of wanted persons, a source close to the case reported to Agence France-Presse on the evening of Tuesday, August 30.

Earlier in the day, the Council of State, the highest French administrative jurisdiction, had given its green light to his expulsion to Morocco, after a request from the Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, against a ruling from the administrative tribunal of Paris suspending the expulsion of the preacher.  The police proceeded to the residence of the Moroccan imam in Lourches, near Valenciennes (North) to arrest him. But they could not find him, according to a source close to the case, who raised the possibility he is in Belgium. 

On July 28, the Minister of the Interior had issued an order for expulsion aimed at Mr. Iquioussen due to "a proselytizing speech interspersed with remarks inciting hate and discrimination and carrying a vision of Islam contrary to the values of the Republic."

Petitioned by Mr Iquioussen's lawyers, the Paris administrative tribunal has suspended this extradition demand in early August, arguing that the expulsion of the imam, born in France 58 years ago, but with Moroccan nationality, would pose a "disproportionate attack on his private and family life".

"Explicit and deliberate acts of provocation of discrimination"

The Interior Minister particularly criticized the imam (for) "a particularly virulent anti-Semitic speech," and his sermons advocating the "submission " of women "in favor of men". The expulsion order also referred to the encouragement of "separatism" and "contempt for certain Republican values, such as secularism and the functioning democracy of the French society."

In his decision, the interim judge of the Council of State rules that "his anti-Semitic remarks, going back several years, during numerous widely disseminated conferences, as well as statements on the inferiority of women and submission to men constitute explicit and deliberate acts of provocation to discrimination and hate, justifying the expulsion decision. He (judge) also rules that this decision does not pose a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the private and family life of Mr Iquioussen," the highest administrative jurisdiction explains in its statement.

In a tweet posted just before the press release by the Council of State, the Interior Minister stated that this decision was, "a great victory for the Republic". "He will be expelled from France. Once arrested, he will be placed in an administrative detention center," Mr Darmanin stated early this evening from the steps of his ministry, noting that, "since 2017, 786 radicalized foreigners have been expelled," and that, "74 of them over the course of recent months." 

"The judicial fight continues"

The imam's lawyer, Luie Simon, reacted on Twitter claiming that this decision symbolized, "a weakened rule of law," and deplored, "an alarming context of executive pressure upon the judiciary," adding: 

"The judicial fight continues, the administrative tribunal will have to look into the basis of the case next, and Hassan Iquioussen is studying the possibility of again petitioning the CEDH (European Court of Human Rights)".  

The CEDH had refused to suspend the expulsion in early August, stating that it only granted provisional measures of suspension "in exceptional circumstances," when the petitioner was exposed to a, "real risk of irreparable damages".