Lawyers for Moroccan imam Hassan Ikiussen, who is wanted by French courts to avoid an deportation order, have filed a lawsuit against Gérald Darmanin for public defamation of their client, a judicial source said on Friday. The lawyers of the 58-year-old imam used a direct summons procedure to appeal to the court. In this direct quote, consulted by AFP, lawyers accuse the interior minister of making remarks they say are defamatory of Mr Ikiussen.
In particular, they dispute Mr. Darmanin’s statements on BFMTV on September 2, in which he described the imam as “delinquent, fugitive and separatist” or confirmed that “Mr. Ikiussen, who has charges against him, has avoided a court order“.
Hassan Ikiusen already won the first round of the Belgian court on Friday, where he is in exile. After hearing behind closed doors an imam contesting his extradition, the council chamber of the court in Tournai, western Belgium, “refused to hand him over to France”, his Belgian lawyer Nicolas Cohen told AFP. The prosecutor’s office of Tournai announced that it has filed an appeal. On September 30, Hasan Ikiusen, who was arrested in French-speaking Belgium, was issued a deportation order.
The expulsion is certified by the State Council
At the end of July, Gerald Darmanin announced the deportation of this propagandist from the North by the intelligence services in the S file (for national security).eighteen months“, According to him. But Hasan Ikiusen was nowhere to be found when this decree, which he challenged in court, was finally ratified by the Council of State on August 31.
According to his lawyer, Mae Lucy Simon, her client has “purely and simply respected French law by leaving France for Wallonia“. The lawyer challenged the validity of the arrest warrant issued by the judge in Valenciennes, arguing that it was based on “on an unconstitutional offense“. Born in France, Ikiusen decided not to choose French nationality when he came of age.
He claims that he gave it up at the age of 17, under the influence of his father, and then tried in vain to restore it. His five children and 15 grandchildren are French and settled in the north of France; one boy is an imam in Raism, the other a former elected MP in Lourches.
Source: Le Figaro
