French Councilor Sues Le Figaro Over Alleged Islamist Radical Accusations

In a press article published on Monday, August 17, 2020, the French newspaper describes Brahim Charafi, an elected official of the Rouen agglomeration, as an Islamist fundamentalist, close to the Muslim Brotherhood, a Muslim chaplain, founder of an Islamic bookstore where fundamentalist works are sold, and author in the past of anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli statements, reports Actu.fr.

This press article quickly sparked heated controversy. "How can the government accept that an imam, founder of an Islamist bookstore ’where fundamentalist works are found’ is a chaplain at the Rouen prison?" wonders LR senator Bruno Retailleau. Faced with the controversy, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, confirmed that the Rouen elected official has not been a chaplain since 2015. "This person has not been a prison chaplain for several years already," he said.

"It’s not me. It’s a lie. I’m a simple French Muslim, it’s my private life. I don’t talk about it outside," insists the elected official of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. "I was a volunteer chaplain for nearly three years. I brought prayer papers from my bookstore. I was confirmed by the regional chaplain and the Minister of Justice at the time. For that, I even had an interview with the territorial intelligence, at the police station in Sotteville-lès-Rouen," he confides.

According to Mr. Charafi, his bookstore has been "closed since 2015, after being placed in judicial liquidation". "I love books and reading, especially Arab-Muslim literature, but it’s not at all to spread an ideology. To assume that I had anti-Jewish books is an insult to my Jewish ancestors," he said. The elected official of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray says he is fighting "extreme Zionism" as he is fighting "radical Islam" but firmly claims that he had never belonged to an Islamist or mystical movement.