Supporters Rally in Paris Against Expulsion of Controversial Imam Iquioussen

The demonstration should be held this Saturday at 3 p.m., Place de la République, in Paris, reports Le Figaro. It was organized "to say no to the expulsion of Imam Iquioussen" and "to say no to state Islamophobia," says a flyer from the association "Perspectives Musulmanes". In the eyes of the latter, the expulsion of the Moroccan preacher "is only the latest in a series aimed at dismantling the Muslim associative fabric, our cultural and political expression".

The Minister of the Interior had ordered the expulsion from French territory of Hassan Iquioussen, accused of holding "for years a hateful discourse against the values of France" towards Morocco. A measure that was suspended by the administrative court of Paris on August 5 on the grounds that it would constitute a "disproportionate infringement" of his "private and family life". Dissatisfied, Gérald Darmanin had appealed the case to the Council of State. The latter examined the appeal and endorsed the expulsion of the Moroccan imam.

Since then, Hassan Iquioussen, who is registered in the FPR, the file of wanted persons, is untraceable. He is said to have taken refuge in Belgium. "Clearly, he is not in France," Gérald Darmanin confided on BFMTV. On Friday, an investigating judge in Valenciennes (North) issued an arrest warrant against the imam of Lourches for "evading the execution of a removal decision," which is contested by his lawyer Lucie Simon.