“I will continue to defend myself
,” warned imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi after the validation of his expulsion from French territory by the Council of State, Friday March 29. The highest administrative court found that certain comments made by the imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze (Gard) incited discrimination against women and Jews. A few hours after the summary judgment was rendered, Mahjoub Mahjoubi reacted on BFMTV.
“We will go, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights, we will go there
,” he declared in a determined tone. Before insisting:
“We are not finished, there are other jurisdictions, we will not give up, we will go to the end. You have not finished hearing about Mahjoub Mahjoubi, it will continue.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, welcomed the decision of the Council of State on Twitter on Friday, calling it
“an important victory against radical Islam”
. The imam, however, affirmed that the minister
“rejoiced too quickly”
. The religious man in fact underlined that
“the charges of radical terrorism, of remarks against the French flag, against the Jewish community... All of this was dismissed by the Council of State”
.
“The only thing I'm being criticized for today is supposedly my degrading comments about the place of women in society
,” he added.
“Satanic Flag”
On BFM, the imam wanted to defend himself again on the remarks with which he is accused:
“I have never downgraded the values of the Republic, I have always defended the values of the Republic, I have always said that every Muslim must refer to the values of the Republic
.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi was deported on February 22 to Tunisia after the broadcast of a video on social networks in which he described the
“tricolor flag”
– without specifying whether it was the French flag – as a
“satanic flag”
which would have
“no value with Allah”
.
He then defended himself by evoking a
“slip of the tongue”
, explaining that he was in reality denouncing the rivalries between supporters of Maghreb countries during the recent African Football Cup of Nations. He is currently the target of an investigation for advocating terrorism and radical preaching.
“Enormous pressure”
In its judgment, the Council of State noted that Mahjoub Mahjoubi, being married to a Tunisian woman living in France with whom he had six children,
"is not devoid of any ties to Tunisia"
, which means that expelling him does not contravene respect for his family life.
Read alsoThe return of imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi suspended in legal disputes
The imam, however, denounced
“enormous pressure”
on his family who are still in France.
“My wife is summoned to the public prosecutor’s office in Nîmes to find out whether our children are being mistreated or not
,” he explained in particular. He assures that he will not repatriate his relatives to Tunisia:
“My children are French, they are not Tunisian. There is no question of them coming to live in Tunisia.”
Mahjoub Mahjoubi finally assured that he
“would no longer occupy the position of imam or preacher”
if he were again authorized to live on French soil.