According to a European arrest order against him, the Belgian authorities were pursuing the Moroccan imam Hassan Echoessen when the French police reported his detention on Friday. However, the French media questioned what would become of the controversial imam.
Furthermore, France is pursuing “Echoessen” for remarks that are “contrary to the ideals of the republic,” and the Echoesun Support Committee declared in a statement that its members “are in a state of mobilisation to secure his release.”
“I can confirm that the police apprehended him today near a Belgian city,” said Vincent van Keukenborn, the justice minister of Belgium.
According to a French police source, Echoessen was taken into custody by Belgian authorities “without any opposition from him.” In the Belgian city of Tournai, which is close to the French border, he was imprisoned in the late afternoon.
The last video of the preacher before his arrest was posted on the Facebook page of the Equisen Support Committee on Friday evening. The statement stated that the group’s members “are in a state of mobilisation to reach his freedom.” Equesne emphasises his “confidence in the justice” while criticising the French Interior Ministry in the video.
Echoessen, a Moroccan citizen, acknowledged being “French in his head” and that he left his country “because I was requested to,” adding, “I did not wait for the minister to enjoy my expulsion by force in front of the cameras.
An investigating magistrate in Valenciennes (north) issued a European arrest order against the imam on suspicion of “evading the implementation of the deportation decision” after the State Council decided to authorise his departure at the end of August.
In response, the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, stated he was “glad with the arrest of the Moroccan imam” and added, “I am pleased with the arrest of Echoessen by the Belgian services, which I sincerely appreciate. ” This was on the fringes of a tour to Cayenne in French Guiana. The Penal Code forbids entering national territory.
It is interesting that “Darmanan” declared this preacher’s expulsion at the end of July of last year due to “state security” concerns.
He has been accused of “adopting an advocacy discourse intermingled with words inciting intolerance and discrimination, and bearing an Islamic vision that opposes the ideals of the republic,” among other things, in the background of this. Since then, the imam has been at the centre of a legal dispute because Equasen is seen as a representation of the government’s struggle against “separatist ideologies.”
Al-Khatib has also been tracked as an extremist by the French State Security’s “Fish S” list for “18 months,” according to the General Directorate of Public Security.
We must wait for the Belgian justice to extradite Hassan Ikosin to France, the French radio station Europe 1 stated in a report titled: “What will happen after the arrest of Ikosin,” adding that “once this is done, he will be placed in an administrative detention centre for a maximum period of time.” 90 days.
She continued, “He may be tried for avoiding French justice throughout this time because this 58-year-old imam committed a crime by fleeing.”
French radio reports that the government’s first priority is to get rid of him as soon as possible because he must leave French territory by law. However, this is currently not possible. At the end of August, Morocco rejected his invitation to enter.
Negotiations to deport him are currently ongoing with Rabat, according to French radio, and the Moroccan government will handle his case.
He is accused of “missionary discourse intermingled with comments that encourage intolerance and discrimination and carry an Islamic vision opposed to the norms of the republic,” according to the expulsion order.
His YouTube account has more than 180,000 subscribers, according to the French daily “Le Monde.”
In 2004, Ikosin mentioned Palestine in a speech.
Later, the offending party apologised for the “inappropriate statements.”
The imam has been at the centre of a judicial standoff ever since an arrest warrant was issued for him. After his deportation to Morocco was announced, it was halted by the Paris Administrative Court because it would “unduly impact” his “private and family life,” according to the court’s decision.
Ekosin, who was born in France, made the decision not to apply for French citizenship after reaching the age of majority.
He claims that under the influence of his father, he left her behind when he was 17 and that he later attempted in vain to win her back. His five French children and fifteen French grandkids live in northern France.
His attorney, Lucy Simon, for her part, questions the legitimacy of the arrest order against him, highlighting the fact that it is based on an alleged “infraction” that she deems to be “unsubstantiated.”
“Why is it being sought after? I questioned at the beginning of September. Why try to get it back?
The Belgian judges must now decide whether to turn him over to the French police in accordance with the arrest warrant, according to the French Interior Ministry.
If the imam protests, it’s anticipated that the extradition process to France will drag on for weeks. In August, questions regarding the imam predominated French newscasts, between legal problems and media conflicts.
Hassan Ikosin, a Moroccan imam, was detained in Belgium; what is his current whereabouts?
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