Controversial Imam Wins Belgian Citizenship Appeal, May Return from Morocco

Mohamed Toujgani had his Belgian residence permit withdrawn in October 2021 while he was in Morocco. With the decision of the Brussels Court of Appeal, which has just validated his application for acquisition of Belgian nationality, the Moroccan imam can hope to return to Belgium by the end of the year, reports La Dernière Heure. Blocked in Morocco for almost three years, Toujgani should return to Belgium, where his wife and children have remained, before the end of the year, unless the public prosecutor’s office files an appeal.

But first, Toujgani should have his Belgian identity card issued, a procedure that can take 3 to 4 months, says his lawyer, Ms. Colombe Dethier. At the age of 69, the popular but controversial imam has been living in Belgium since the early 1980s. The Moroccan was an influential figure in the Brussels Muslim community and was even president of the League of Imams of Belgium. He preached in Arabic at the Al Khalil mosque in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, the largest in Belgium. Very conservative, he has been under surveillance by Belgian intelligence services for several decades.

In one of his sermons in 2009, the imam called to "burn the Zionists". These remarks caught up with him ten years later, in January 2019, when a video of this sequence went viral on social media. In March of the same year, Mohamed Toujgani filed a request for Belgian nationality with the municipal administration, which was rejected after the negative opinion of the public prosecutor’s office, which explained that "the State Security has elements that prevent us from granting this request".

Seized, the court of first instance ruled in favor of Toujgani on October 1, 2021. The public prosecutor’s office immediately appealed, suspending the naturalization process. In the wake of this, the then Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, Sammy Mahdy, withdrew Toujgani’s residence permit in Belgium, citing "a serious threat to national security". The National Security considers the Moroccan imam to be an "agent of influence" or an "informant" of the Moroccan intelligence services. Traveling in Morocco, the imam was not informed of the situation. It was when he decided to return to Belgium that he learned that he no longer had a residence permit.