The imam of the Bleuets mosque in Marseille, threatened with administrative closure, will be tried on October 3 for “apology for terrorism” regarding publications linked to the situation in the Gaza Strip, we learned Tuesday from the Marseille prosecutor.
Imam Ismail, whose real name is Smaïn Bendjilali, was taken into custody on Tuesday morning and was released on Tuesday evening with this summons to appear before the criminal court, prosecutor Nicolas Bessone told AFP, confirming initial information from France Bleu Provence.
He is notably accused of having reposted publications which, according to the prosecution, advocate terrorism.
This summons to appear in court has a more or less direct link with the procedure initiated by the police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, Pierre-Édouard Colliex, insofar as the public prosecutor took up this case following a report from the prefect, known as “article 40”, explained the prosecutor.
“My client was summoned on Monday evening only for this police custody, these are very short deadlines, never seen before. For me the +timing+ is eminently political. And with this legal procedure, the police prefect is trying to solidify his case with a view to closing the mosque”, reacted Me Rafik Chekkat, lawyer of the imam, questioned by the AFP.
The police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône had notified the mosque, located in the northern districts of the city, on August 20 of his intention to close it, at the request of the resigning Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
A procedure justified in particular for the public authorities by the comments and online publications of Imam Ismail, the main French preacher of the mosque. The latter denies any incitement to violence or apology for terrorism and denounces “intimidation”.
On Monday, the lawyers and officials of the mosque had met with representatives of the State. Accompanied by the president of the Departmental Council of the Muslim Faith, they proposed “corrective measures”, indicated on Monday Me Rafik Chekkat, one of the lawyers.
This includes removing certain online publications, “not because we consider them illegal but as a measure of appeasement,” he said.
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