Belgian Politician Narrowly Avoids Party Expulsion Over Support for Controversial Imam

In a message posted on his Facebook page, the former Brussels deputy had defended Mohamed Toujgani, the main imam of the Al Khalil mosque, the largest in Belgium, who was expelled to Morocco. The "unilateral decision" of Sammy Mahdi to withdraw Mohamed Toujgani’s residence permit and ban him from the territory for the next 10 years, due in particular to a video dating back to 2009 but published in 2019 in which he called for burning "oppressive Zionists", was "iniquitous and totally unjustified," said Ahmed El Khannouss (cdH). Also, he had described this decision as a "deportation measure". According to him, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration is participating in "a mad race to compete with the right and the far right in Flanders". The elected official explained that the statements of the main imam of the Al Khalil mosque in Molenbeek are "crude terms" referring to a "Zionist aggression against Gaza" which did not lead to any legal proceedings, reported BX1.

These remarks prompted the Secretary General of the cdH, Gauthier de Sauvage, to seize the party’s ethics committee on January 14, asking it to examine their "compliance" "with our statutes and our values". This committee has made its decision. It heard Ahmed El Khannouss on January 21, who "acknowledged that some of the remarks made in January 2022 were inappropriate," report the dailies Le Soir and La Libre Belgique. The committee also "recalled that, since 2009, it had condemned the remarks made at the time by the imam [Toujgani] and that, no more than yesterday, could it accredit them today." The same committee said that the former regional deputy sent it a clarification letter in which he stresses that he has "always fought against all forms of racism, xenophobia against Islamophobia and against anti-Semitism." Not to mention recalling the context, namely that the person concerned was aware of a judgment dating from October 2021 favorable to the imam Toujgani.

After analyzing the remarks and the clarification letter, the cdH’s ethics committee ruled out any idea of excluding Ahmed El Khannouss from the party. However, it issued him a warning: "New remarks, attitudes or behaviors showing a deviation from the line of conduct [of] the party" would indeed lead the ethics committee to reconsider its judgment.