A little respite for Sana*. This Friday, the Lille administrative court suspended the expulsion order to Algeria targeting this young mother, taken against her will to Syria when she was a teenager and then married to a jihadist. Contrary to what the prefect of the North, Georges-François Leclerc, maintained, the magistrates considered “that the existence of a serious threat to public order” was “not proven”. They emphasize in particular that the 24-year-old young woman, who was repatriated with her two daughters in January 2023, was not indicted, nor even placed under the status of assisted witness. ” On the contrary, [elle a] contributed to incriminating several people, including members of his family who voluntarily participated in the actions of the Islamic State,” insist the judges.
“The suspension of the expulsion order and the house arrest is an immense relief for Sana and her daughters,” reacted her lawyer, Me Marie Dosé. And to insist: “Sana is a victim and must be able to rebuild herself in France, this country which has always been hers, where she was born, where she grew up and of which she was deprived against her will by an abusive mother” .
“I condemn them for everything they have done”
Certainly, as the prefect wrote in his decree, Sana is indeed “a foreigner in an irregular situation”. The young woman is of Algerian nationality. However, she has never set foot in this country, has always lived in Roubaix. At 13, like all children born in France and residing in the territory, she received a letter telling her that she met all the conditions to obtain French nationality. All you need to do is have your case regularized with the prefecture. But his mother stops him.
Shortly after, the teenager was taken out of school, completely veiled. At the age of 15, in 2014, his mother, radicalized, took him and his entire family to Syria. A few weeks later, she will be married to a Belgian jihadist. “I am before you by choices made by my mother,” insisted Sana during the hearing which was held Thursday morning, reports our colleagues from The voice of the North. What does she think of Daesh?, the court asks. “I condemn them for everything they have done, visible and hidden.” She claims to no longer have any connection with her “husband”.
This decision constitutes a new setback for the prefect of the North. Already on September 27, the commission for the expulsion of foreigners had issued an unfavorable opinion on the young woman’s return to Algeria. The three magistrates then considered that there was nothing to establish that the presence of Sana “on national territory constitutes a serious threat to public order”. And to insist: “The allegations of the Prefect of the North in this regard are not corroborated by any document. »
But the prefect decided not to take this decision into account – which is only advisory – and, on October 10, issued an expulsion order. He was also present in person again at the hearing on Thursday. This did not prevent the judges from considering “that there existed a sufficiently serious doubt about the legality of the decision to suspend its execution”.
*The first name has been changed