(AFP) A Belgian court on Friday refused to extradite an imam, Hassan Iquioussen, to France to face charges of hate speech and anti-Semitism, according to one of his lawyers.
But prosecutors immediately lodged an appeal, and said the matter will be heard by a higher court within two weeks.
The Islamic preacher was arrested in Belgium on September 30 under a European warrant after entering that country from France, where he had been living, and is being held in jail.
His lawyer, Nicolas Cohen, said Iquioussen risked being treated unfairly by authorities in France.
His client appeared in the court in Tournai on Friday in a closed-door hearing.
