Today, Monday March 14, the prefect of the Gironde department, Fabienne Buccio, ordered the closure of the Al-Farouk mosque in Pessac, near Bordeaux, for six months, reports the newspaper Le Figaro. The association “Rassemblement des musulmans de Pessac” is accused of promoting “a radical Islam” and spreading “a Salafist ideology”.
According to a lawsuit that has been ongoing since February 24, the prefect of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Gironde regions, Fabienne Buccio, considers that the mosque run by the association “Rassemblement des musulmans de Pessac” “promotes a radical Islam and transmits a Salafist ideology” by ” sermons and statements” that have “regularly called for flouting the laws of the Republic, justifying attacks and glorifying martyrdom”.
This mosque is not only a place where such content is disseminated, but also a place where hateful publications about Israel are disseminated (…), where there are calls to secede from society and where Muslims who do not share their radical view of Islam are condemned,” the prefecture said in its statement. The mosque “regularly hosts imams known for their closeness to radical Islam and their Salafist ideology, and supports terrorist organisations or entities or individuals that promote radical Islam,” the prefecture detailed.
By such actions, the Al-Farouk mosque incites “violence, hatred or discrimination” and promotes “the committing of acts of terrorism”. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced numerous closures and administrative closures in recent months to combat “Islamist separatism”.