The Ministry of the Interior has decided to appeal the decision of the judge in chambers of Bordeaux which suspended the closure for 6 months of the mosque of Pessac, accused by the prefecture of Gironde of conveying a “Salafist ideology”, announced Thursday the prefect on Twitter.
The temporary closure had been decided by the prefect of Gironde Fabienne Buccio by decree on March 14 “because of the activities practiced and the ideas conveyed in this mosque”, according to the prefecture. This appeal to the Council of State not being suspensive, the Al Farouk mosque in Pessac, in the suburbs of Bordeaux, will be able to remain open.
Accused of spreading hate messages
In its decree, the prefecture argued that the association “Rassemblement des Musulmans de Pessac” and its president, disseminated messages on the Internet and social networks and relayed writings from third parties “inciting violence, hatred or discrimination”, encouraging “the commission of acts of terrorism” or “advocating such acts”.
But the judge in chambers of the administrative court of Bordeaux, seized by the mosque to have the prefectural decision suspended urgently, which it described as “disproportionate”, considered that there was no need to take such a measure, according to his order issued on Tuesday.
A moderator appointed to manage the site
“Despite their questionable nature, the publications (on the internet, editor’s note) which motivated this closure did not present an extremist character to the point of provoking, through hatred and violence, the commission of acts of terrorism”, explained the court. administrative in a press release on Wednesday.
“Before the closure decision, the association had deleted the denounced writings (…) and took measures to avoid the renewal of provocations to violence or hatred by replacing the manager of the site (internet) and by appointing a moderator,” the court added.