France expels 'radical' Tunisian imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi over flag comments - BBC News

Immigration reforms have made it easier for the French government to forcibly remove foreign residents.

2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ShutterstockImage caption, Mahjoub Mahjoubi was an imam in the small southern town of Bagnols-sur-CèzeBy Lou NewtonBBC NewsFrance has expelled a "radical" imam who made "unacceptable remarks" about the country's flag, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has said.

Mahjoub Mahjoubi appeared to call the French flag "satanic" in a video that went viral online earlier this week.

Mr Darmanin said France's immigration reforms had enabled the swift deportation of the imam.

But the imam denies any wrongdoing and said he had not meant to be disrespectful.

Mahjoub Mahjoubi, who hails from Tunisia but came to France 38 years ago, was an imam at the Ettaouba mosque in the small town of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, in the south of France.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68378736

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