Arrest of the imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze: Mahjoub Mahjoubi “was handcuffed in front of his minor children, who were crying”

Maître Hamroun et l'imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi se sont retrouvés mardi 19 février devant la mosquée de Bagnols pour donner leur version des faits. C. B.

After the arrest of the imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze on Thursday February 22 shortly before noon, his lawyer, Samir Hamroun, filed an appeal against the expulsion of his client and deplored the speed of the procedure. 

"We are stunned, really in shock", confides master Samir Hamroun,&nbsp ;Mahjoub Mahjoubi's lawyer, after the arrest of the imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Thursday February 22, shortly before noon. 

"Three police officers from Gard came to his home, in Bagnols, and notified him of the expulsion order territory towards Tunisia (Mahjoub Mahjoubi is of Tunisian nationality, Editor's note), signed by the Minister of Justice and dated today. Mr. Mahjoubi was handcuffed in front of his minor children, who were crying. He called me during his arrest, he was devastated, especially to see his children crying who begged the police , says the lawyer of the ;#39;imam of Bagnols-sur-Cèze for six years. Mr Mahjoubi had time to take some clothes and he was taken in the police van to be taken to a detention center in the Paris region."

"We didn't expect it, underlines the lawyer. I thought he would be taken into custody as part of the investigation for advocating terrorism. We were preparing for it. There, he could have explained himself."

The lawyer specifies that being in a detention center, the imam of Bagnols will be able to telephone, "he will have the right to speak. But expulsion could happen at any time", he's worried.   

An appeal which is not suspensive

Master Hamroun will file Thursday February 22 in the evening, "an appeal before the Paris administrative court but it will not be suspensive. Everything now depends on Tunisia and the consular pass. If there exists "an agreement on the resumption of nationals between Tunisia and France" , Mahjoub Mahjoubi's lawyer emphasizes that "Tunisia can delay, not accept the extradition of my client straight away".

The lawyer for the Bagnolais imam hopes that the procedure for his appeal will be quick, "less than four days& ;quot;. Accustomed to this type of case, the lawyer believes that "this is the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic that a foreigner has been the subject of an extradition procedure so quickly&amp ;quot; and repeats that "Mahjoub Mahjoubi never spoke of the French flag but of tricolor flags. He was very clumsy in his comments. His image is catastrophic, he is taken for Bin Laden!"