The managers of the Allonnes mosque, closed for six months, appeal to the Council of State

Under the accusation of promoting a “radical practice of Islam”, it has been closed for six months, since October 27. The managers of the Allonnes mosque, near Le Mans (Sarthe), have appealed to the Council of State to obtain the lifting of this measure, their lawyers, Me Nabilla Asmane, William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth said on Monday. The Nantes court had already rejected a petition for interim relief requesting the suspension of the prefectural decree.

“In a completely spectacular way, the reproaches formulated against the Allonnes mosque are based on peremptory assertions contained in” white notes “, unsigned and undated documents, emanating from the intelligence services to the exclusion of any specific and concrete element, ”say the lawyers.

“A serious attack” on the freedom of worship

To justify its decision, the prefecture affirmed that “sermons and the activity of this place of worship, frequented by individuals belonging to or close to the radical Islamist movement, legitimizes the use of armed jihad, death as a martyr, the commission of acts of terrorism and the use of violence, hatred and discrimination as well as the establishment of Sharia law ”.

The managers of the mosque consider for their part that “the closure measure, taken by an administrative authority without the appeal of a judge infringes several fundamental freedoms including freedom of association and freedom of worship”, underline the lawyers . “The undersigned deplore as well as the pretext of the fight against religious extremism, the Ministry of the Interior is engaged in the adoption of display measures and this, even though the leaders and members of the mosque have always made sure to maintain good relations with the public authorities ”, they write.

In its request before the administrative court of Nantes, the Al Qalam association, managing the mosque, considered that the decree “seriously undermined” the freedom of worship, the 300 faithful finding themselves “deprived of other places of worship. within 70 kilometers ”. The Allonnes mosque accommodates around 300 worshipers and houses a Koranic school for around 110 children “in front of whom armed jihad was valued and which therefore constitutes a place of indoctrination”, the prefecture also estimated.

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