The president of a Gironde mosque in the process of being expelled released

The Nigerien president of a mosque in Gironde, in the process of being expelled since August, will be released on Wednesday at the end of the legal period of administrative detention and will be tried “parallel” in January for advocating terrorism, his lawyer announced Monday. Abdourahmane Ridouane, 59, who runs the Pessac mosque in the Bordeaux metropolitan area, was arrested at his home on August 8 in accordance with an expulsion order issued by the Ministry of the Interior and placed in a detention center administrative in Seine-et-Marne.

The authorities accuse him of comments or positions, made or relayed on social networks, accusing France of practicing “state Islamophobia”. He would also have “justified terrorist acts” et “provoked to discrimination or hatred towards Western countries, the State of Israel as well as all people of the Jewish religion”. In question, messages “legitimizing” the attack perpetrated on October 7, 2023 by Hamas against Israel, or saluting the memory of its former leader, Ismaïl Haniyeh, after his assassination on July 31 in Tehran. The Paris administrative court and then the Council of State have since rejected appeals against the expulsion.

A hearing scheduled for January 13

According to a police source, Mr. Ridouane was placed in police custody on October 30 at the request of the Meaux public prosecutor's office, “following a report from the Minister of the Interior reporting the broadcast of several videos and the publication of messages on social networks which could constitute the offense of glorifying terrorism”. He was to be tried immediately on Monday but his lawyer had the hearing postponed until January 13 to prepare his defense. The court placed him under judicial supervision until then, with a ban on leaving French territory and an obligation to report to the Pessac police station once a week.

The prosecution had requested in vain on Friday, pending the hearing, a placement in pre-trial detention. Contacted by AFP, Me Sefen Guez Guez denounces “a misuse of procedure”pointing out that the facts alleged against his client have been known for a long time, including the message relating to Ismaïl Haniyeh at the end of July, the Council of State thus mentioned it in its decision of September 17. Asked about a possible house arrest measure, the Gironde prefecture replied that it would communicate on the matter on Wednesday.