The Muslim Brotherhood in France (14)

The article below from yesterday's Le Figaro is the latest in our series of translations from original European articles on the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the 14th such translation from France. It specifically concerns the French government's dissolution of the European Institute of Human Sciences, a training school for imams in France, which has been tied to the Muslim Brotherhood and is accused of promoting armed jihad, which the institute denies.

The translation is by Fousesquawk.

The European Institute of Human Sciences, suspected of legitimizing "armed jihad", dissolved by the Council of Ministers

By Le Figaro with Agence France Presse

One day ago

"The fight against entryism (infiltration) by the Muslim Brotherhood movement continues. Today, the European Institute of Human Sciences has been dissolved at my request in the Council of Ministers," the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, wrote on X.

The European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH), a school for imams, suspected of advocating "a radical Islam" and legitimizing "armed jihad", was dissolved in the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, September 3, Bruno Retailleau announced on X. "The fight against entryism by the Muslim Brotherhood movement continues. Today, the European Institute of Human Sciences has been dissolved at my request in the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Interior writes, adding his thanks to "the State services who, every day, lead this vital fight to not allow the Muslim Brotherhood to carry out their Islamist agenda."

A report, requested by Emmanuel Macron, and published in the spring, noted the "threat to national cohesion," with the development of Islamism "from below" on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Founded in 1992 on the initiative of the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF, later the Muslims of France), which gravitates within the orbit of the Islamist brotherhood of the Muslim Brotherhood, IESH is regularly the target of accusations of collusion with radical organizations.

The premises, located in the Nievre (department), were searched at the end of 2024, notably by the Central Office for Repression of Serious Financial Crimes (OCRGDF) within the framework of an investigation on suspicions of non-declaration of foreign financing, specifically, Qatari. The investigation, opened by the Public Prosecutor of Nevers, focuses primarily on acts of money laundering, abuse of trust, as well as failure to comply with the obligation to declare foreign financing, primarily coming from Qatar, as inscribed in the law against separatism, adopted in 2021, a source close to the case indicated at the time.

"We train the imams in the French way"

"There are no grounds for this. Since the 2021 law, we have not received any donations from abroad. The last was, from Qatar, in 2018, and it was declared," the dean of the institute, Larabi Becheri, claimed to Agence France Presse, disputing the accusations. "We train the imams in the French way to avoid radicalism," M. Becheri defended himself, insisting on the independence of the institute.

The school, installed in the tiny hamlet of Saint-Leger-de-Fougeret (Nievre) in the dense forest of Morvan, was the first of its kind to open in France, not far from Chateau-Chinon, the electoral home of Francois Mitterand. The former president wanted to promote the training of imams in France, an idea later revived by Emmanuel Macron.