France’s Council of State delays verdict on Pessac Mosque closure

PARIS- France’s Council of State has postponed until next week the verdict in the case of the Pessac Mosque in the Gironde department of southwestern France, which is threatened with closure for allegedly conveying a “Salafist ideology.”

More than 100 faithful Muslims gathered to show their support to the mosque.

Defense lawyer Sefen Guez Guez said “we will certainly have the decision by the end of next week, particularly in the run-up to the second round of the presidential election.”

He added that the Interior Ministry is clear that it will “do everything to prevent Muslims of Pessac from meeting during this holy month of Ramadan” while nothing in this case links the mosque to terrorism claims.

In its decree of March 14, the Gironde department argued that the association Rassemblement des Musulmans de Pessac and its president spread messages on the internet and on social networks “inciting violence, hatred or discrimination,” encouraging “the commission of acts of terrorism” or “advocating such acts.”

Guez Guez said he already won his case before the administrative court of Bordeaux and hopes it will be the same in Paris.

But Guez Guez stressed that the Ministry of the Interior has “no grounds to reproach the mosque of Pessac.”

The pending verdict will set a precedent and a very clear direction, he said.

He called on other structures that could be subject to administrative closures in the future to challenge the decision, saying the verdicts could be in their favor.

Abdourahman Ridouane, the leader of the Pessac Mosque, thanked those who turned up to show their support.

He pointed to the consequences of the law against separatism, of which he considers himself a victim and which he described as a “real threat to rights and freedoms.”