State Council Overturns Mosque’s Religious Status Revocation in Noisy-le-Grand

It all began with a letter from Georges-François Leclerc, then prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, announcing the revocation of MNLG’s administrative ruling, obtained less than two years earlier. Behind this withdrawal was a major issue: losing the ruling also meant losing the ability to issue tax receipts for donations from the faithful, essential for financing a new mosque under construction.

The prefecture based its decision on several Facebook posts by the association’s president. In one of them, he mentioned a raid against the president of Barakacity, dissolved in 2020, and criticized the inaction of the Raid (French police tactical unit) in the face of threats against Muslims. He wrote: "In such cases, for harassment, the Raid has work to do to raid Zemmour, Odoul and company...", before adding: "The Raid had never moved to protect victims and arrest the perpetrators!"

The lower courts, the Administrative Court of Montreuil and then the Administrative Court of Appeal of Paris, had initially validated the revocation decided by the prefecture.

However, the highest administrative court deemed that these statements, although controversial, "did not in themselves call for the commission of crimes or offenses," nor for "discrimination, hatred or violence." The Council of State also considered that the writings in question did not constitute support for Barakacity. Consequently, the November 2023 ruling was annulled and the case was referred back to the Administrative Court of Appeal.