- Mahjoub Mahjoubi, 52, was flown to North Africa 12 hours after his arrest
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France has deported a Tunisian cleric who allegedly called the country’s flag satanic.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi, 52, was flown to North Africa just 12 hours after his arrest for sermons that allegedly went against French values.
His deportation last Thursday is seen as a demonstration of tough immigration laws introduced by President Emmanuel Macron.
Mahjoubi had gone viral on social media after apparently referring to France’s three-color flag as “satanic.”
He was arrested and deported despite living in the country since the 1980s and raising five children there.
Unlike them, he did not have French citizenship and his residence permit was canceled.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi, 52, (pictured) was flown to North Africa just 12 hours after his arrest for sermons said to have gone against French values.
The official order for Mahjoubi’s expulsion said that in his sermons he had given a “retrograde, intolerant and violent” image of Islam that would encourage behavior contrary to French values, discrimination against women, “tensions with the Jewish community” and ” jihadist radicalization”.
The imam also referred to “the Jewish people as the enemy” and called for “the destruction of Western society,” according to the indictment.
He also allegedly described the tricolor (without saying that he was referring to the French flag) as “worthless to Allah.”
Mahjoubi, who runs a construction company, said it was a mistake, adding: “I will fight to return to France, where I have lived for 40 years.”
He said his family, including his youngest son who is in the hospital for cancer treatment, was completely dependent on him.
‘My lawyer is going to take legal action in France. If the court does not give me justice, I will appeal and then I will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,” he added.
“I did not insult the Jewish community or the French flag.”
Mahjoubi had gone viral on social media after apparently referring to France’s three-color flag as “satanic.”
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the expulsion was a demonstration that a recently passed immigration law “makes France stronger.”
The law that toughens immigration conditions was seen as part of the government’s response to the rise of the extreme right in opinion polls.
“Firmness is the rule,” said Darmanin, who sharply criticized what he called a “radical imam who made unacceptable comments.”
Mahjoubi said his expulsion was an arbitrary decision and that Darmanin was using his case to “create a stir around immigration law.”