searches carried out in an imam training institute in Nièvre

The structure is suspected of not having declared funding from, in particular, Qatar, amounting to 300,000 euros. The Nièvre prosecutor told AFP that the searches had been “successful”.

A “major police search operation” was carried out on Wednesday, December 4, in the premises of the European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH) in Nièvre, which trains imams, the Nevers prosecutor declared to France Télévisions, confirming information from AFP. The operation ended at midday.

These searches were carried out as part of an investigation into suspicions of non-declaration of financing originating in particular from Qatar, to the tune of 300,000 euros, a source close to the matter told franceinfo, confirming information from the Figaro. The declaration of funding from abroad is an obligation enshrined in the law to combat separatism, adopted in 2021.

Around fifty police officers from the Central Office for the Suppression of Serious Financial Crime (OCRGDF) took part in the searches, as well as agents from the anti-terrorism sub-directorate (Sdat) present for observation, with the services territorial jurisdiction of the judicial police. Police officers were also mobilized to secure the operation, this source added to franceinfo.

The prosecutor of Nevers, Anne Lehaître, did not detail to AFP the state of the current investigation, simply stating that she “started” and concerned “financial offenses which fall into the category of money laundering”. “The search operation was successful”she clarified.

The IESH was founded at 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, described as “terrorist” by Saudi Arabia. As part of an interview with AFP, the dean of the IESH, Larabi Becheri, recognized in 2020 that his institute was born in 1992 “on an idea” of the UOIF. But “there is no Muslim Brother here”assured Larabi Becheri. He did not respond to AFP on Wednesday.