Belgian justice, who refused to extradite the preacher to France on Tuesday, explains that the offense reproached by France does not exist in Belgian law.
Le Monde
The Moroccan Imam Hassan Iquioussen, exiled this summer in Belgium to escape an expulsion order in France, was placed in a closed center for a distance from Belgian territory, the secretary announced Wednesday, November 16 of the country from the country to asylum and migration.
“Man lost his right of stay in France and was to return to his country of origin, Morocco,” said Secretary of State, Nicole de Moor, in a statement. “He does not give any sign that he wishes to return voluntarily. The French authorities always claim the return of the person in order to be able to send him to Morocco,” added this Flemish Christian Democratic official, adding that Mr. Iquioussen did not not the authorization to stay on Belgian territory. “We remain in contact with France to allow its distance,” she insisted.
refusal of extradition to France
Tuesday Belgian justice had a second time refused to present the imam to France under a European arrest warrant (MAE). The Mons Court of Appeal confirmed the decision rendered at first instance on October 21 by the Tournai court.
The lawyers of the Imam argued that the offense accused by France (“subtraction of the execution of a distance of distance”) does not exist in Belgian law, which is a condition for A MAE can be executed.
Wednesday morning, M Me of Moor argues that Belgian justice also decided Tuesday that Imam Iquioussen “can no longer be placed in pre -trial detention while waiting for his extradition to the France “. “Consequently, this person no longer has to wear an electronic bracelet,” adds the Secretary of State.
Hassan Iquioussen, arrested on September 30 in the Mons region, in French-speaking Belgium, and which has since been under house arrest under electronic surveillance, has been at the heart of a politico-legal imbroglio this summer in France. At the end of July, the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had announced the expulsion of this 58 -year -old preacher, “died” (for state security) by the intelligence services.
The decree signed by the Minister’s hand criticizes him “a proselytical discourse enamelled with words encouraging hatred and discrimination and carrying a vision of Islam contrary to the values of the Republic”. But Mr. Iquioussen was not found at the time of this decree, which he had challenged before the courts, had been definitively validated by the Council of State, August 31.