Belgian Muslim Groups Slam Justice Minister Over Grand Mosque Recognition Suspension

The Minister’s remarks openly violate freedom of worship, the principle of neutrality, and the principle of separation of Church and State, reads a statement signed by the collective composed of the Executive Office of Muslims of Belgium, the Association for the Management of the Grand Mosque of Brussels and the Coordination Council of Islamic Institutions of Belgium. They all regret this suspension measure which sweeps away all the achievements made in the field of the institutionalization of Islam in Belgium since 1998, reports embnet.be.

The request for an audience, to present an evaluation report, continues the statement, remained unanswered, deplores the collective. "We refute all accusations of alleged interference from foreign countries and espionage which are totally unfounded (...) It is defamatory, insulting and slanderous to declare that our members would be spies in the pay of foreign countries. These accusations are unfounded, contested and contestable," they hammered.

Our institutions remain open to dialogue with the public authorities as they have always been, concludes the statement.