Montpellier Mosque Files Discrimination Complaint Over Bank Account Closures

Criminal lawyer Stéphane Fernandez filed a complaint for defamation with civil party constitution before the Dean of the Investigating Judges at the Montpellier Judicial Court. An action he is carrying out on behalf of the Aïcha association, which manages the eponymous mosque, exasperated to see its bank accounts regularly closed "without the slightest explanation". The Caisse d’Epargne, Société Générale, Crédit Mutuel, Crédit Coopératif, La Banque Postale and Crédit Agricole would be behind these "abusive" actions. Contacted by Midi Libre, the last three say they have acted in this way to protect the "interests of the client and banking secrecy." In an email, La Banque Postale says it "reserves the right to close association accounts in order to comply with its regulatory obligations".

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The Financial Intelligence and Action Service against Clandestine Financial Circuits (Tracfin), a body of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, tasked with combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism or organized crime, would be behind the scenes. All banks are required to make a "suspicious transaction report", under penalty of sanctions, "when they are faced with a transfer of funds whose origin they cannot justify or which appears doubtful." The situation of the Aïcha association recalls the call launched by the Council of Mosques of the Rhône (CMR) to French President Emmanuel Macron, who had denounced a "banking apartheid" affecting dozens of mosques under construction (or extension), but also donors.

"The problem is that the economic model of our association is based on donations and subscriptions. Concretely, we give our faithful bank account details so that they can financially help the smooth running of the mosque. But as soon as we have an account closed, we have to send a new bank account details to everyone and we lose a lot of faithful and therefore money because of that," fumes Hamid Hatime, the president of the Aïcha association. "Religious freedom is a fundamental freedom in French law. The principle of equal treatment of all citizens is a fundamental principle of any democracy," points out lawyer Stéphane Fernandez.

Unfortunately, "it must be noted that the principle of equal treatment in the exercise of religious freedom is constantly flouted and violated with regard to the Muslim religion. [...] Some banks, through their actions, deliberately prevent the exercise of the Muslim religion, he denounces. This is unacceptable in a state under the rule of law, in the country of human rights. These acts of discrimination are developing throughout the territory."