After a long legal and political battle, the French authorities were finally able to get rid of Imam Iquioussen, whom they had made a symbol in the fight against “the enemies of the Republic”. France accused him of making “statements inciting hatred and discrimination”. An accusation that he rejects as well as a large part of his supporters who see it as a political act.
The Moroccan imam set foot on Moroccan soil after being expelled by Belgium where he had taken refuge. He arrived on Friday at Mohammed V airport in Casablanca where his plane landed. His arrival was filmed and broadcast on Twitter. A video showed him leaving the airport where he was greeted by relatives. He was visibly pleased with the welcome he received at the airport.
The French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, did not fail to exult. His entourage, quoted by AFP in a dispatch, was delighted with a “great victory against separatism”. For his part, the Moroccan imam saw his expulsion as an exile. “It is a real uprooting,” lamented his lawyer Lucie Simon, when she spoke to BFMTV. She did not fail to compare his expulsion to a decision “of exile”.
The defense of the Moroccan imam does not intend to stay idle. His lawyer has expressed his willingness to continue the fight until the end. “It is far from being the end of this judicial saga,” she said to BFM, while adding some nuances on the case of her client. According to her, the Justice has not yet decided on the merits, that is to say on the legality of the expulsion itself.
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