“My role is to enforce contracts and the law” explains the mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze about the mosque of Imam Mahjoubi

“Mon rôle est de garantir la laïcité mais aussi les contrats et la loi” explique Jean-Yves Chapelet. C.B.

Le maire de Bagnols-sur-Cèze Jean-Yves Chapelet s’est exprimé jeudi 4 avril après le vote en conseil municipal de la résiliation du bail liant la Ville à l’association dont l’imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi était vice-président.

After the vote, Tuesday, April 2, in the municipal council, of the termination of the lease linking the City of Bagnols-sur-Cèze to the association of Muslims of Rhone Gard (AMGR) for the enjoyment of the municipal building housing the At-Tawba mosque, the mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Jean-Yves Chapelet, spoke on Thursday April 4 on the consequences of this decision.

It was in this Bagnolese mosque, which could accommodate more than 200 believers, that the Tunisian imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi, then vice-president of the AMGR, made remarks controversies during his sermons, leading the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin to issue an expulsion order to Tunisia on February 22. The expulsion of the imam of Tunisian nationality was validated on March 4 by the Paris Administrative Court and then confirmed by the Council of State on March 29. March.

"I rely on facts"

"I express myself solemnly today. I am the chief magistrate of the city, I represent the Republic, I rely on facts" argues Jean-Yves Chapelet. "Contractually, we took a step on Tuesday evening by voting the termination of the long-term lease of 18 years passed on September 14, 2022 with the association of Muslims of Rhone Gard". A lease was then voted on "unanimously by the municipal council", he recalls.

A deadline until June 10 to allow legality control

"We sent the deliberation of the municipal council to the prefecture today (April 4). She will do the ;rsquo;subject to a legality check, then the procedure will begin to recover the premises, our lawyers will serve the order" explains Jean-Yves Chapelet. "We have given a deadline until June 10 to allow the legality check, then we will recover the keys, that will be will do before a notary."

"I'm not here to close a place of worship. The role of a mayor is to guarantee secularism, allowing believers to exercise their faith in an appropriate place. But my role is also to enforce contracts and the law" he emphasizes. Beyond the preachings pronounced by Imam Mahjoubi, which justified his expulsion as an absolute emergency, on a purely contractual level, "the lessor has the duty to terminate the lease when the place is not used within the framework of what is defined there", specifies Jean-Yves Chapelet. In this case, the At-Twaba mosque was not intended to be a place of education for minors, as had been the case until the decision of the prefect of Gard in last November to ban it, also due to fire safety problems.

"My door is not closed"

Until the deadline of June 10, the mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze assures that "his door is not not closed" to the association whose officials he received on March 8 to announce his decision to end the lease. "The ball is in their court" launches Jean-Yves Chapelet, who hopes for a change in the association, beyond the decision of the AMGR, in general assembly, to relieve Imam Mahjoubi of his duties as vice-president. Whatever happens, "we are continuing our efforts to recover the premises" he explains.