France: Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi Expelled to Tunisia

BY: Dr. Hana Saada

ALGIERS- In a post published on his X account, the French Minister of the Interior announced on Thursday evening the expulsion of “radical imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi” from the national territory, “less than 12 hours after his arrest.” “This demonstrates that the Immigration Law, without which such a rapid expulsion would not have been possible, makes France stronger,” added the Minister.

The Tunisian imam from Bagnols-sur-Cèze was arrested on Thursday and placed in a detention center in the Paris region pending his expulsion. Mahjoub Mahjoubi had been in the spotlight of the Minister of the Interior for several days, who had requested the withdrawal of his residence permit on Sunday.

The Minister had asked the prefect to report “the remarks of the imam [Mahjoub Mahjoubi] to the public prosecutor” of Nîmes. Following this step, the public prosecutor of Nîmes, Cécile Gensac, announced on Monday that she had opened a preliminary investigation for apologizing for terrorism.

Mahjoub Mahjoubi “was arrested at his home by the police, who notified him of an expulsion order from the Ministry of the Interior, with immediate administrative detention in the Paris region,” explained his lawyer, Me Samir Hamroun, on BFMTV, according to whom his client is “stunned” and “disturbed.”