According to information from France Bleu Provence, Smaïn Bendjilali has been questioned since Tuesday morning while the mosque is subject to administrative closure proceedings.
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The imam of the Bleuets mosque in Marseille, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, threatened with administrative closure due to “words legitimizing violence” according to the police prefecture, was taken into custody on Tuesday September 3 in the morning for “apology for terrorism”, France Bleu Provence learned from the Marseille prosecutor’s office.
According to information from France Bleu Provence, Smaïn Bendjilali has been in police custody since Tuesday morning at 9am. This police custody follows a report from the police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, Pierre-Édouard Colliex, and comes at a time when this mosque in the 13th arrondissement of the city is subject to administrative closure proceedings.
On August 20, the police prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône notified the mosque, located in the northern districts of the city, of his intention to close it, “at the request of Mr. Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior”A procedure notably justified according to the public authorities by comments and online publications of Imam Ismail, real name Smaïn Bendjilali, the main French preacher of the mosque.
Lawyers and officials of the Bleuets mosque in Marseille met with state representatives on Monday. During this meeting, representatives of the mosque, accompanied by the president of the departmental council of the Muslim faith, proposed “corrective measures”said Rafik Chekkat, one of their lawyers, who was present at the meeting on Monday. This includes removing certain online publications“not that we consider them illegal but as a measure of appeasement”the lawyer said.
The delegation also highlighted Imam Ismail’s commitment to undergo training “secularism and values of the Republic” and highlighted the many social activities of the mosque, located in a poor part of the city.