Twenty days that the carpets of the Mosque of Allonnes (Sarthe) have not been trodden.
A prefectural decision provides that the place of worship, accused of promoting a "radical practice of Islam", remains closed for six months in total.
But its managers do not hear it that way: they seized Friday, in summary, the Council of State.
The summary seizure must allow them, if validated, to obtain
sine die
the reopening of their mosque.
The managers "announce to have seized" Friday "the judge of summary proceedings of the Council of State of an appeal against" the order made at the end of October by the administrative court of Nantes, indicate in a press release Masters Nabilla Asmane, William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth , their lawyers.
The Nantes court had rejected a request for interim relief requesting the suspension of the prefectural decree.
Read alsoClosing of the Allonnes mosque: managers denounce "serious accusations" from the Interior
“Quite spectacularly, the reproaches leveled against the Allonnes mosque are based on peremptory assertions contained in
white notes
, unsigned and undated documents, emanating from the intelligence services to the exclusion of all precise and concrete element, argues the trio of councils.
Sermons "legitimizing armed jihad"
To justify its decision, the prefecture affirmed that “the sermons and the activity of this place of worship, frequented by individuals belonging to or close to the radical Islamist movement, legitimize the use of armed jihad, death as a martyr, the commission acts of terrorism and the use of violence, hatred and discrimination as well as the establishment of Sharia law ”.
The managers of the mosque consider for their part that "the closure measure, taken by an administrative authority without the recourse of a judge, infringes several fundamental freedoms including the freedom of association and the freedom of worship", underline the lawyers.
Read also Radical Islam: the Allonnes mosque closes, the government "uncompromising in the face of radicalization"
“The undersigned deplore as well as the pretext of the fight against religious extremism, the Ministry of the Interior is engaged in the adoption of display measures and this, even though the leaders and members of the mosque have always made sure to maintain good relations with the public authorities ”, they write.
In its request before the administrative court of Nantes, the Al Qalam association, managing the mosque, considered that the decree “seriously undermined” the freedom of worship, the 300 faithful finding themselves “deprived of other places of worship. within 70 km ”.
The Allonnes mosque accommodates around 300 worshipers and houses a Koranic school for around 110 children "in front of whom armed jihad has been valued and which therefore constitutes a place of indoctrination", the prefecture also estimated.