- Mahjoub Mahjoubi, 52, was flown to North Africa 12 hours after his arrest
France has expelled 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 preaching alleged to be contrary to French values.
His deportation last Thursday is seen as a demonstration of the strict immigration laws introduced by President Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Mahjoubi went viral on social media after apparently calling France’s tricolor flag ‘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Unlike them, he did not have French citizenship and his residence permit was revoked.
Mahjoub Mahjoubi, 52, (pictured) was flown to North Africa just 12 hours after his arrest for preaching alleged to be contrary to French values
The official order for Mr Mahjoubi’s expulsion said he had given a “retrograde, intolerant and violent” image of Islam in sermons that included behavior against French values, discrimination against women, “tensions with the Jewish community” and ” would encourage jihadist radicalisation’.
The imam also called “the Jewish people the enemy” and called for “the destruction of Western society,” the complaint said.
He is also said to have described the tricolor – without saying that he meant the French flag – as ‘of no value to Allah’.
Mr Mahjoubi, who runs a construction company, claimed it was a slip of the tongue, adding: “I will fight to return to France where I have lived for 40 years.”
He said his family, including his youngest child who is in 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 have not insulted the Jewish community or the flag of France.”
Mr Mahjoubi went viral on social media after apparently calling France’s tricolor flag ‘satanic’
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the expulsion was a demonstration that a recently passed immigration law “makes France stronger.”
The law tightening migration conditions was seen as part of the government’s response to the rise of the far right in opinion polls.
“Resolution is the rule,” said Darmanin, criticizing what he called a “radical imam who made unacceptable comments.”
Mr Mahjoubi said his deportation was an arbitrary decision and Mr Darmanin used his case to “create controversy around the immigration law”.