Court Overturns Closure Order for Nice’s Muslim College Amid Financing Dispute

Seized in summary proceedings, the administrative court decided to suspend the execution of the prefectural order ordering the "definitive closure" of the Avicenne Muslim college as of July 6, 2024, relays France 3. The judges explained in a press release accompanying the order that the "errors and inaccuracies" noted in the accounting of the said college, suspected of "opaque financing", are not "such as to justify the definitive closure of the establishment".

In a post on X, the college’s lawyer, Me Sefen Guez-Guez, welcomed this decision, thanking the court for "its clarity and meticulous work". "This summary order is not the judgment on the merits and this judgment is therefore not final," reacted the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, Hugues Moutouh, on the X account of the prefecture, arguing that "the financing of this establishment is for the most part opaque and non-compliant with the law of August 24, 2021 strengthening respect for the principles of the Republic".

During the hearing on April 16, the leaders of the Avicenne college denounced "harassment", however acknowledging the existence of "errors" in the accounting of the establishment. For the record, the Minister of National Education, Nicole Belloubet, had announced on February 26 her intention to close the Avicenne college, in application of the 2021 law against separatism, which requires private establishments outside the contract to justify the sources of their financing.