The imam wanted by France who fled to Belgium counter-attacks and takes legal action against the Minister of the Interior.
The lawyers of the Moroccan imam Hassan Iquioussen, claimed by the French courts for having evaded an expulsion order, have taken legal action for public defamation against their client by Gérald Darmanin, it has been reported. learned Friday from a judicial source. Lawyers for the 58-year-old imam used a direct summons procedure to go to court. In this direct quote, consulted by AFP, the lawyers accuse the Minister of the Interior of remarks which they consider defamatory with regard to Mr. Iquioussen.
In particular, they dispute statements by Mr. Darmanin on BFMTV on September 2, in which he presented the imam as “a delinquent, a fugitive and a separatist» or affirmed that «Mr. Iquioussen, who has things to blame himself for, evaded the court decision“.
Read alsoArrest of Imam Hassan Iquioussen in Belgium: why his transfer to France looks uncertain
Hassan Iquioussen already won a first round on Friday before a court in Belgium, where he went into exile. After hearing the imam behind closed doors, who contests his extradition, the council chamber of the court in Tournai (western Belgium) “refused the surrender to France”, his Belgian lawyer Nicolas Cohen told AFP. . The Tournai public prosecutor’s office announced that it had appealed. Hassan Iquioussen, arrested on September 30 in French-speaking Belgium, is under a deportation order.
SEE ALSO – Belgium: Imam Hassan Iquioussen “holds on”, reports his lawyer
Expulsion validated by the Council of State
At the end of July, Gérald Darmanin announced the expulsion of this preacher from the North, on file S (for state security) by the intelligence services “for eighteen months“, according to him. But Hassan Iquioussen could not be found when this decree, which he had challenged in court, had been definitively validated by the Council of State on August 31.
Read alsoCould we have prevented Imam Hassan Iquioussen from fleeing?
According to his lawyer, Me Lucie Simon, his client has “purely and simply respected French law by leaving France for Wallonia“. The lawyer had challenged the validity of the arrest warrant issued by a judge in Valenciennes, believing that it was based “on an unconstitutional offense“. Born in France, Iquioussen had decided when he came of age not to opt for French nationality.
He claims to have given it up at the age of 17 under the influence of his father, and then to have tried in vain to recover it. His five children and his 15 grandchildren are French and established in the North of France: one son is an imam in Raismes, another ex-elected PS in Lourches.
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