Deportation of Notorious Radical Islamic Preacher Halted by European Court

The European flag's stars are seen on the floor of a hearing room prior to a Grand Ch
FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

The deportation of notorious radical Islamic Salafist hate preacher Imam El Hadi Doudi from France to his native Algeria was halted at the last minute this week by an intervention from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The 63-year-old hate preacher was notified that he was to be sent back to his native Algeria on Tuesday and taken into custody at a detention centre. But while there, the ECHR contacted the French Interior Ministry claiming they need a few days to review his case before his deportation, La Croix reports.

Imam El Hadi Doudi is well-known in Marseille for his extremist views and radical sermons and many had called for his expulsion from France in the past.

According to Doudi’s lawyer Nabil Boudi, the ECHR suspended his client’s deportation under article 39 which allows the ECHR to interfere in cases where harm may come to an individual. Mr. Boudi said that he had sent requests claiming that his client may be subjected to torture if sent back to Algeria.

Doudi, who serves as the imam for the As-Sunna mosque in central Marseille, has been accused of stoking up hatred against a number of groups including Jews, Shiites, women, and adulterers.

The Prefecture of Police of Bouches-du-Rhone decided in December to temporarily close the As-Sunna mosque for six months which was agreed on by the Council of State at the end of January.

The case is not the first time a European court has prevented the deportation of a radical Islamic extremist. In January, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) prevented the Swedish government from expelling a Moroccan asylum seeker who their security agency had deemed a terrorist threat.

In Germany, the government has also had a difficult time deporting radical Islamic extremists with a new report showing the German regional governments combined had only deported 10 extremists since the start of 2017.

 Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com 

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