MONTPELLIER, France: French authorities Thursday expelled a Tunisian imam accused of preaching hatred against women and Jews, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced.
The interior minister in a post on X said that Mahjoub Mahjoubi, imam in town of Bagnols-sur-Ceze, was sent back to Tunisia after less than 12 hours of his arrest.
He added that it was a demonstration of the recently voted immigration law that 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 in France. Left wing parties have strongly opposed the law.
Darmanin, went on to say that radical imam made unacceptable comments.
According to the official order for Mahjoubi’s expulsion, he had given retrograde, intolerant and violent statements in sermons in February. It said the image of Islam would encourage behavior against French values, tensions with the Jewish community, discrimination against women and Jihadist radicalization.
According to the order, the imam during his sermons called the Jewish people as the enemy and called for the destruction of Western society.
The imam’s lawyer has said that he would appeal the expulsion.
France Last year, expelled a Moroccan imam and an Algerian an official at a mosque that was closed in 2018.
President Emmanuel Macron in 2020 had stated that he wanted to expel about 300 imams sent by other nations. Furthermore, none have been accepted from abroad since start of the 2024.
