• Shopping Cart Shopping Cart
    0Shopping Cart
Campaign Against Antisemitism
  • Link to X
  • Link to Tiktok
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to LinkedIn
  • Link to Mail
  • ANTISEMITISM
    • Definition of Antisemitism
    • Recognising Antisemitism
    • The Law of Antisemitism
    • Resources for Teachers
  • RESEARCH
    • Prevalence of Antisemitism
    • Antisemitic Crime Levels
    • Prosecutions for Antisemitism
    • Effects on British Jews
    • Antisemitism in Political Parties
    • EHRC
    • Antisemitism in Universities
    • Antisemitism in Local Authorities
  • NEWS
    • Latest News
    • Media Centre
  • PODCAST
  • ABOUT US
    • Our Work
    • Spokespeople
  • HELP US
    • Subscribe
    • Volunteer with us
    • Intern with us
    • Work with us
    • Become a Student Ambassador
    • Donate
  • CONTACT
    • General Enquiries
    • Media Enquiries
    • Licensing
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
Europe, Incidents Website

Belgian court refuses to extradite radical imam who fled France to escape deportation

A Belgian court has refused to extradite a radical imam who fled France to escape deportation.

Hassan Iquioussen, an imam with a history of making inflammatory comments about Jews, was arrested in Belgium in September pursuant to a European arrest warrant that was issued after he went on the run in the wake of a court ruling in France permitting the French Government to deport him.

This week, a Belgian court upheld a ruling dismissing a request from France for Mr Iquioussen’s extradition.

The decision is the latest episode in the saga of Mr Iquioussen’s deportation. Previously, the French authorities struggled to persuade French courts to permit them to deport the imam. The French Government even vowed to change the law in order to be able to deport him, but that became no longer necessary after a decision from France’s Conseil d’Etat, the supreme court for administrative justice, which overturned a previous ruling that suspended Mr Iquioussen’s deportation order.

That final decision rejected the claims of Mr Iquioussen’s defence that deporting the imam to Morocco would not be a disproportionate interference with his right to lead a normal previous and family life.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who has previously said that Mr Iquioussen is an enemy of France who had “no place” in the country, hailed the decision as “a big victory for the Republic,” adding of the imam: “He will be deported from national soil.”

The imam then fled France and was found in Belgium, where he currently remains.

Mr Iquioussen is a Moroccan citizen who has lived in France all his life but who has become a symbol of President Emmanuel Macron’s battle against Islamism, whom the President accuses of rejecting French laws and values. He did not take up French citizenship at a younger age and his attempts to do so since then have failed.

During the court hearings, prosecutors highlighted statements allegedly made by Mr Iquioussen in 2003 and 2004 in which he described Jews as “miserly usurers” and claimed that Zionists had “connived with Hitler…to push Jews to leave Germany”. He also reportedly said: “The Zionists said…there has to be someone in Europe who does bad things to Jews so that they…will leave [for Israel].” They also noted a conference in 2012 at which Mr Iquioussen allegedly described terrorist attacks in the West as “pseudo-attacks whose objective is to frighten non-Muslims so that they are afraid of Islam and of Muslims,” and claimed that he has also publicly denied the 1915 Armenian genocide and pointed to allegedly misogynistic comments.

In a post on Facebook, Mr Iquioussen “strongly contested” the allegations that he had used “discriminatory or violent language.” His supporters argue that the comments cited in the case were dated and taken out of context, and pointed to other statements by the imam, such as: “We have never had, and have, nothing against Jews because Islam is a religion based on justice.”

Mr Iquioussen had said that he was considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, before fleeing the jurisdiction.

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism in France, Belgium and throughout Europe.

Related

      
17/11/2022
Search Search
  • We won’t let the pressure let up on Kneecap06/05/2025 - 21:09
  • BBC reiterates commitment to thematic review of Gaza coverage06/05/2025 - 10:37
  • University Rector wins appeal following dismissal over comments which made students “fear for their safety”02/05/2025 - 14:03
  • Kneecap dropped from Plymouth venue, following CAA action01/05/2025 - 15:01
  • Kneecap dropped from Eden Sessions festival, following CAA action30/04/2025 - 14:54
  • Vindicated: Harvard University publishes damning report on campus antisemitism30/04/2025 - 11:02
  • We will privately prosecute Kneecap if necessary28/04/2025 - 20:04
  • Jordan announces ban on Muslim Brotherhood24/04/2025 - 10:43
  • CAA makes submission to Foreign Affairs Committee23/04/2025 - 09:24
  • The ‘Hamas case’, and what it means22/04/2025 - 20:21

We are seeking to recruit a General Counsel a Creative Communications and Events Officer a Communications and Research Manager an Education and Outreach Intern to join our London office

Join the fight

Subscribe
Volunteer
Donate

Campaign Against Antisemitism is a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism through education and zero-tolerance enforcement of the law. Everything that we do is done by people who volunteer their time, using donations contributed by members of the public. Join the fight against antisemitism by subscribing to our updates, volunteering, or donating.

Related

Justice, justice, you shall pursue - צדק צדק תרדף
© Copyright - Campaign Against Antisemitism, all rights reserved. Our logo is a registered trademark.
Campaign Against Antisemitism is a charitable incorporated organisation registered with the Charity Commission (number 1163790).
Use of our website is subject to our terms. Trees are planted every year to keep our work carbon neutral.
  • Link to X
  • Link to Tiktok
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to LinkedIn
  • Link to Mail
Link to: Vancouver adopts International Definition of Antisemitism Link to: Vancouver adopts International Definition of Antisemitism Vancouver adopts International Definition of Antisemitism Link to: Man who reportedly believes “Jewish elite” controls government appears in court on terror charges Link to: Man who reportedly believes “Jewish elite” controls government appears in court on terror charges Man who reportedly believes “Jewish elite” controls government appears in...
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top

We use cookies to track use of our website and your preferences. Use of our website is subject to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Read more.Accept cookies and our terms of use

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Terms of use and privacy policy
Accept settingsHide notification only
SIGN UP FOR UPDATES BY E-MAIL

By default you will receive weekly e-mails, but when you receive the first e-mail you can change to daily or monthly e-mails instead.

If you prefer to subscribe later, you can do so by scrolling right to the bottom of this page.