Moroccan imam Hassan Iquioussen, arrested on Friday in Belgium under a European arrest warrant (EAW) issued by Paris, is counting on Belgian justice to resist “pressure” from France, which is demanding his surrender in order to be able to deport him, his lawyer told AFP on Monday.
“Hassan Iquioussen trusts Belgian justice not to give in to pressure from a French executive eager for a media trophy to serve a disastrous legislative agenda”writes his counsel, Me Lucie Simon, in a press release.
Implicated for judged remarks “contrary to the values of the Republic”this imam from the North is subject to an expulsion order signed by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
He could not be found in France when this decree, which he had challenged in court, had been definitively validated by the Council of State on August 31.
The French authorities had then issued an EAW against him for “subtraction from a distance measure”.
His lawyer disputes the validity of this EAW, the offense justifying it not being, according to her, characterized, his client having himself left French territory.
In addition, her departure, according to her, took place before the Council of State validated the expulsion order, at a time when this decision “was suspended” and where no distancing measure could therefore “to be against him”.
“Ultimately, Hassan Iquioussen purely and simply respected French law by leaving France for Wallonia”she wrote, regretting “a worrying disdain from the executive” for the “legal standards”.
Belgian justice should rule in the coming days on the execution of the EAW, by examining in particular whether the offense prosecuted in France has an equivalent in Belgium.
The question “respect for the fundamental rights of the imam in the event of a return to France” will also arise, warns Me Simon, “in a context of show politics unworthy of our rule of law”.
The procedure for handing over to France could take several weeks. Gérald Darmanin announced at the end of July the expulsion of this preacher, on file S (for state security) by the DGSI (General Directorate of Internal Security), for 18 months, according to him.
The decree accused him “a proselytizing speech interspersed with remarks inciting hatred and discrimination and carrying a vision of Islam contrary to the values of the Republic”.
The man born in France and of Moroccan nationality, was detained on Friday evening in Tournai after an investigating judge seized by the Mons prosecution served him with the arrest warrant.