Controversial Imam Evades Authorities After French Court Approves Expulsion

Where is Hassan Iquioussen? After the validation by the Council of State of the expulsion order, the imam from northern France remains untraceable. The police carried out a search at his home in Lourches, a commune located in the Denain (Nord) agglomeration, in order to arrest him to expel him to Morocco, but they did not find him, reports France Bleu Nord. So far, his family nor his lawyer have been willing to cooperate with the authorities to locate him. He "will be expelled from the national territory as soon as he is apprehended," said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

The Interior Minister had ordered the expulsion from French territory of Hassan Iquioussen, accused of holding "for years a hateful discourse against the values of France" to Morocco. A measure that was suspended by the Paris administrative court on August 5 on the grounds that it would constitute a "disproportionate infringement" of his "private and family life". Dissatisfied, Gérald Darmanin had appealed the case to the Council of State. On Tuesday, the latter examined the appeal and endorsed the expulsion of the Moroccan imam. Hassan Iquioussen is registered in the FPR, the file of wanted persons.