The Hauts-de-France Region once again blocked the payment of an annual grant to the private Muslim high school Averroès on Tuesday, October 4, due to suspicions about its funding and despite a disavowal from the Council of State, a- we learned from Xavier Bertrand's office.
The Averroès association immediately challenged this new refusal by filing an appeal before the administrative court, its advisers, Me Nef Naf and Jonbloski, told AFP.
Project rejected in June
For the second consecutive year, the regional majority led by the LR boss of the Region, Xavier Bertrand, rejected Tuesday in the permanent committee a deliberation for the payment of the annual externship package.
For 2020/21, it is 287,000 euros.
The same scenario played out for the payment of the 2019/2020 allocation, the Region going as far as the Council of State to avoid its payment.
Read alsoIn Marseille, 25 colleges and high schools on the front line of Muslim communitarianism
But her appeal was rejected last June, and according to Xavier Bertrand's firm, she ended up paying the funds for this period, of 274,000 euros.
Tuesday's vote follows a decision in July by the Lille administrative court, which had ordered the Region to reconsider its implicit refusal to pay the funds to the school, recalling "
the serious doubt as to the legality of this refusal
".
"Foreign Funding"
"
Bis Repetita: these are the same decisions followed by the same appeals as for the sums due for the year 2019-20
", underlined Me Nef Naf, accusing the Region of "
playing the clock so that the association which manages the high school goes bankrupt
", at the risk "
of disrupting the education of 400 students
".
"
If the state has anything to reproach the school for, it should denounce the contract
" which binds it with the private Muslim high school, he said.
Failing this, “
the Region is legally bound to pay these subsidies
”.
The Region is considering again, if necessary, an appeal to the Council of State, indicated the cabinet of Xavier Bertrand.
"
As long as we do not have explanations from the State on the respect of the convention with the school, the Region will not pay the funds
", we added.
Read also“At Averroès high school, there is a Muslim atmosphere”
Xavier Bertrand had seized the Ministry of Education in 2020 after the publication of the book "
Qatar Papers
" by Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot reporting "
foreign funding
" for this Lille establishment.
According to him, a report from the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR) "
confirmed that the school had obtained a loan of 800,000 euros from the Mulhouse mosque which was repaid thanks to a donation from 850,000 euros from the NGO Qatar Charity in 2014
”.
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