Ahmad 
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced the expulsion of a Tunisian imam from the country on charges of “extremism” and making “unacceptable statements”.
Darmanan said in a post on Platform X: “The extremist imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi has just been expelled from our territory less than 12 hours after his arrest, and we will not let anything for anyone to do go unnoticed.”
Darmanan described the imam as an “extremist”, explaining: “Without the immigration law, it (expulsion) would not have been possible, and firmness is the rule.”
The Tunisian imam said in a video that “the tricolor flag is a satanic flag that has no value in the sight of God,” without specifying whether he was talking about the French flag.
The imam defended himself in an interview with several media, saying: “I was not talking in any way about the French flag,” and continued: “I am talking about stadiums and all these flags that we raise in stadiums and that divide Muslims.”
The imam’s lawyer confirmed that he was talking about flags in the plural and criticizing nationalism, saying: “No one will believe his client because he has a beard, and he has an accent.”
Imam Mahjoubi is not the first imam expelled by France, as Belgium deported Moroccan imam Hassan Equisen to Morocco in January 2023, after he sought refuge there after he was expelled from France for “comments inciting hatred and discrimination.”
Abderrahim Sayyah, a former Algerian official for a mosque in France that was closed in 2018 and is considered a “leader of Salafism” by the authorities and expelled to Algeria last June, was also deported on charges of promoting terrorist acts.
« L’Imam » radical Mahjoub Mahjoubi vient d’être expulsé du territoire national, moins de 12h après son interpellation.
C’est la démonstration que la loi Immigration, sans laquelle une telle expulsion aussi rapide n’aurait pas été possible, rend la France plus forte. Nous ne…— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 22, 2024