Paris: France has ordered the closure of a mosque in the north of the country radical nature like him Imam’s sermon, regional officials told AFP on Tuesday.
The mosque in Beauvais, a city of 50,000 people about 100 kilometers (62 mi) north of Paris, will remain closed for six months, according to the prefecture of the Oise region where Beauvais is located.
it said preaching there incite hatred, violence and “defending jihad”.
The move comes two weeks after Interior Minister Gerald Dormanin said he had begun the process of shutting down the site because imams there are “targeting Christians, homosexuals and Jews” in their sermons. This, the minister said, was “unacceptable”.
Local authorities were legally obliged to start a 10-day information-gathering period before taking action, but told AFP on Tuesday that the mosque would now be closed within two days.
local daily Courier Picard This month’s report states that the imam of the mosque had recently converted to Islam.
The newspaper quoted a lawyer for the union that manages the mosque as saying that his remarks were “taken out of context”, and that the imam had been suspended from his duties following the prefecture’s letter.
The French government announced earlier this year that it would intensify investigations into religious sites and organizations suspected of spreading radical Islamic propaganda.
The action follows the October 2020 murder of teacher Samuel Petty, who was targeted following an online campaign against him for showing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during a civilian square.
The Interior Ministry said this month that nearly 100 mosques and Muslim prayer halls, out of France’s total of more than 2,600, have been investigated in recent months over suspicions that they were spreading.sectarian“thinking.
It said six sites were being investigated with a view to closing them on the basis of French laws against extremism and Islamic separatism.
The mosque in Beauvais, a city of 50,000 people about 100 kilometers (62 mi) north of Paris, will remain closed for six months, according to the prefecture of the Oise region where Beauvais is located.
it said preaching there incite hatred, violence and “defending jihad”.
The move comes two weeks after Interior Minister Gerald Dormanin said he had begun the process of shutting down the site because imams there are “targeting Christians, homosexuals and Jews” in their sermons. This, the minister said, was “unacceptable”.
Local authorities were legally obliged to start a 10-day information-gathering period before taking action, but told AFP on Tuesday that the mosque would now be closed within two days.
local daily Courier Picard This month’s report states that the imam of the mosque had recently converted to Islam.
The newspaper quoted a lawyer for the union that manages the mosque as saying that his remarks were “taken out of context”, and that the imam had been suspended from his duties following the prefecture’s letter.
The French government announced earlier this year that it would intensify investigations into religious sites and organizations suspected of spreading radical Islamic propaganda.
The action follows the October 2020 murder of teacher Samuel Petty, who was targeted following an online campaign against him for showing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during a civilian square.
The Interior Ministry said this month that nearly 100 mosques and Muslim prayer halls, out of France’s total of more than 2,600, have been investigated in recent months over suspicions that they were spreading.sectarian“thinking.
It said six sites were being investigated with a view to closing them on the basis of French laws against extremism and Islamic separatism.
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