The IESH, a school of imams in Nièvre which prides itself on combating radicalism, was raided on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a possible non-declaration of foreign funding, particularly from Qatar.
The European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH), located in the deep countryside of Morvan, was the subject of a “major police search operation” this Wednesday morning, which ended at midday, the AFP the public prosecutor in Nevers, Anne Lehaître.
“The investigation, which is beginning, concerns financial offenses which fall into the category of money laundering,” added the prosecutor, without elaborating on the alleged facts.
No arrests took place, according to Ms. Lehaître.
According to a source close to the case at AFP, this investigation concerns suspicions of money laundering, breach of trust as well as non-compliance with the obligation to declare foreign financing, particularly from Qatar, included in the law to combat separatism adopted in 2021.
“The search operation was successful,” said the prosecutor, without further details.
Questioned by AFP, the dean of the institute, Larabi Becheri, assured that “nothing was discovered” by the hundred agents who came to search, who took away computers and copied hard drives.
– “A report” –
“There is nothing founded. Since the 2021 law, we have not had any donations from abroad. The last one, from Qatar, dates from 2018, and it is declared,” added Mr. Becheri.
Funding for the school, which has 260 students, comes 80-85% from membership fees, with the rest provided by individual donations, the dean said.
Founded in 1992 on the initiative of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF, now Muslims of France), which gravitates in the orbit of the Islamist brotherhood of the Muslim Brotherhood, the IESH is regularly the target of accusations of acquaintance with radical movements.
But “we train French-style imams to avoid radicalism,” replied Larabi Becheri, assuring the “independence” of the institute.
According to him, the search followed “a report from someone who wants us harm”. The investigators also seized cash which was in the IESH safe, the institute not having a bank account because “the banks do not want to work with us, even those which are designated by the Bank of France.
The school, located in the tiny hamlet of Saint-Léger-de-Fougeret (Nièvre), in the middle of the thick forests of the Morvan, was the first of its kind to see the light of day in France, not far from Château-Chinon, electoral lands of François Mitterrand. The former president wanted to promote training for imams in France, a credo later taken up by Emmanuel Macron.
