The Bleuets mosque in Marseille has been given a closure notice from the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, seemingly due to its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
While the Muslim Brotherhood connection was not explicitly stated, both the imam, Smain Bendjilali, and the Bleuets mosque itself were described as “very influential in the neighborhood” in a recent French government report on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Bendjilali was described as being “of a rather Salafist leaning but using the codes of the Muslim Brotherhood, and is a master of social media.”
“Since 2017 and until August 2024, all the remarks made in this mosque, and in particular by Imam Bendjilali, lead me to consider that the continued operation of this mosque presents risks and continues to allow the propagation of remarks and theories inciting violence and discrimination,” police prefect Pierre-Édouard Colliex told Agence France-Presse.
“The main imam of this mosque defends a fundamentalist vision legitimizing the use of violence,” he concluded.
The mosque condemned the closure notice on its social media page on Sunday, calling it “an unfair and abusive procedure” and stressing that the mosque is a “space for prayer, social connection, and public utility.”
It also said, “In the current climate of Islamophobia, the procedure seriously undermines freedom of worship.”
Bendjilali tweeted, “This is, therefore, not a legal decision but a political decision.
“This is not a security measure, but an abuse of power. This is not a protection of the Republic but an ideological targeting against Islam.
Six months ago, Bendjilali was convicted of glorifying terrorism by retweeting a post about the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that referred to them as a divine punishment inflicted on Jews. He was given a six-month suspended prison sentence.
The Marseille criminal court fined him €2,000 and imposed a five-year civil rights ban, preventing him from voting or standing for public office.
His name was also added to a terrorist offenses register.