A French Judicial court on Monday sentenced to a four-months suspended prison sentence and a two year ban from French territory the head of the Al Farouk Mosque in Pessac, Abdourahmane Ridouane, over allegations of “apology for terrorism.”
Ridouane, reputedly a well respected figure in the local Muslim community and founder of the mosque he led, was taken into custody last October after being accused of calling Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh a “brother, father, resistance fighter and tireless commander.”
However, the Imam had been facing expulsion proceedings and placed in an administrative detention center, a the French ministry of the interior initiated on August 8.
His lawyer, Stefen Guez Guez described the sentencing as a “gag procedure” aiming to prevent Ridouane’s release, arguing that his defendant has been “deprived of contacting his loved ones since August 8, 2024 and has been kept from the Pessac mosque, which he created.”
“We denounce the speed by which the Public prosecutor’s office responded to the report of the ministry of interior in order to block the possibility of releasing the head of the Pessac mosque,” stated the lawyer. “In only 48 hours, a man was taken into custody, whereas it took more than 12 months for an investigation to be opened against Meyer Habib, who described Palestinians as ‘cancer.’”
In addition to his support for Palestine and its resistance groups, Ridounae is also said to have been targeted by authorities for his criticism of France’s neo-colonial policies in Niger, his country of origin.
Despite putting him under administrative detention in August, French authorities have been unable to deport Ridouane since Niger did not issue a “consular pass,” which is the only document that would allow for his deportation in the absence of his passport.
In February last year, France deported another Imam of Tunisian origin whom the authorities deemed “radical” after he called the French flag “satanic.” French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin praised the new immigration laws that made this deportation possible.
“Without the immigration law, this would not have been possible. Firmness is the rule,” Darmanin said of banishing the Imam who has lived in France for 38 years.