The Legault government is calling on the police to intervene regarding calls for hatred and violence allegedly made by a Montreal imam.
During a demonstration in support of Palestine in late October, well-known imam Adil Charkaoui reportedly prayed unequivocally to God to take care of the Israelis.
“God, take care of the aggressor Zionists,” he said, according to a translation obtained by The Canadian Press. O God, make sure you leave none behind. »
In a press scrum Tuesday afternoon, François Legault was outraged. It is clear that this is “incitement to hatred, to violence”, he commented.
The head of government declared that he was careful not to order police action, but at the same time, he suggested that the police must intervene.
“I count on the police to do their job well, they must do their job. It’s not my place to tell them how to do their job, but inciting violence is not allowed. »
Mr. Charkaoui was previously suspected of terrorism by Canadian authorities and monitored for nine years without any charges being filed. Québec solidaire (QS) then celebrated its victory in Federal Court in 2009, but this time, the party wanted to distance itself.
“He is an arsonist in our society,” commented MP Haroun Bouazzi on Tuesday morning.
“More broadly, on issues of Islamophobia, he is someone who sets more fire than anything else in this society. So, obviously, I have no sympathy for this character and what he says. »
The interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay, for his part maintained that Mr. Charkaoui’s declaration was “totally unacceptable” and that he was letting the authorities “see if there is grounds for taking legal action.”
Likewise, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon recalled that the Criminal Code punishes public incitement to hatred.
“In Quebec, we should never accept that we can publicly incite hatred towards other people. And so I ask the authorities to follow up on this, to the extent that section 319 of the Criminal Code seems quite clear to me. »
Born in Morocco, Adil Charkaoui was arrested in 2003 under Canada’s security certificate system. Authorities then alleged that he was a terrorist and that he had been trained in a camp in Afghanistan.
His movements were monitored for nine years, but he was never charged with anything.