Belgian Intelligence Oversight Body Finds ’Major Dysfunctions’ in Imam’s Expulsion Case

According to the Comité R, the State Security (VSSE) lacked measure in the analyzes it transmitted to institutions such as the OE, the public prosecutor’s office and the Mahdi cabinet regarding the Moroccan imam Mohamed Toujgani, leading in October 2021 to his expulsion from Belgian territory, where he had resided since the 1980s. "The seriousness of these shortcomings must be assessed in light of their impact on the rights and freedoms of Mohamed Toujgani," the oversight body said.

Sammy Mahdi, Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, at the time had decided in October 2021 to terminate the Moroccan imam’s stay on Belgian territory, based on information from the security services "due to signs of a serious danger to national security." The decision is accompanied by an order to leave the territory. The Comité R investigation reveals that it was the media coverage in January 2019 (through La Dernière Heure) of a preaching video of the imam, dating from 2009, "which reactivated the interest of the Sûreté for his case - an interest which was not new, however, Toujgani having been on the radar for more than three decades," says Le Soir.

"Lord, make the blood of the martyrs a weapon under the feet of the oppressive Zionists, and may this blood be a burning fire that burns them and a wind that lashes them," the preacher said in the video in question. The oversight body notes that the notes written about the Moroccan imam before January 2019 reported his activities with "greater caution". "The most recent mentions of Mohamed Toujgani in notes to the authorities indicate a moderation of his discourse and his sermons," the Comité R specifies.

The VSSE had, in another note from 2018 which categorized Toujgani as a simple "conservative", assured that the Moroccan preacher "has always condemned terrorism and the use of violence". Notes that lead the Comité R to point out a form of paradox in this case. It notes that "until July 2019", "the VSSE had not deemed it necessary to alert the administrative and/or political authorities as to the threat he represented," despite the "signs of a serious danger to national security." And to conclude: "In the absence of updating and confirming the information collected, the VSSE shared an analysis with conclusions that were disproportionate to the information at its disposal."