Expulsion of Hassan Iquioussen: the imam cannot be found, his home searched

The home of Imam Hassan Iquioussen, whose expulsion was validated on Tuesday August 30 by the Council of State, was searched in the afternoon in Lourches (North), reports France Blue North. The Moroccan imam remains untraceable, despite a large police presence in his town.

His lawyer, master Lucie Simon, denounces to France Bleu Nord “external interference in this file, unprecedented pressure from the executive on the judiciary”. According to her, the decision of the Council of State “truly revives the debate on independence” of the highest court. She sees it “a terrible precedent on the rights of foreigners” because “this what the judges say is that a man born in France can, overnight, be expelled from French territory for remarks. She points “a totally disproportionate procedure” for words “sometimes old, sometimes recent”but which, according to her, “are not calls to violence”.

For her part, Anne-Lise Dufour-Tonini, the PS mayor of Lourches, fears the consequences of this affair: “It’s publicity and I hope that every time we mention his name, there are not new kids who find themselves in front of his videos, listening to him!”

Imam Hassan Iquioussen is registered with the RPF, the file of wanted persons, but neither his family nor his lawyer specify his location, indicates France Bleu Nord. Tuesday, Gérald Darmanin assured that he “will be expelled from the national territory as soon as he is arrested”. Close to the Muslim Brotherhood the imam “will be placed in an administrative detention center and we will continue our actions against separatist speeches”added the Minister of the Interior.