(Radio France) Tunisian imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi was recently expelled from France for alleged hate speech under an accelerated procedure made possible by the country’s tough new immigration laws. In a crackdown on Islamist fundamentalism, France has ejected a string of foreign imams whose preaching has been deemed a threat.
An imam at the Attawba mosque in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, in the south of France, Mahjoubi was deported on 22 February in a decision that he said was politically motivated.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin ordered his expulsion after footage emerged of Mahjoubi appearing to preach hate and anti-France sentiment during a sermon in early February.
In an extract widely circulated on social media, Mahjoubi described the “tricolors” — a term often used to refer to the French flag — as “satanic” and “of no value with Allah.”
