An appeals court in Mons, Belgium, has upheld the refusal to extradite Moroccan imam Hassan Ekoissen, sought by the French judiciary after he evaded an expulsion order at the end of the summer, according to Mons prosecutors.
The court confirmed the decision of the Court of First Instance of Tournai of 21 October.
“The court considers that the facts on which the European arrest warrant issued on 31 August 2022 is based do not constitute a crime under Belgian law,” deputy prosecutor François Desmoulins told AFP.
And he added: “As a result, the European arrest warrant was not executed by court order.”
The imam’s lawyers, Lucy Simon and Nicola Cohen, considered the decision “a victory for the law.”
And Belgian authorities arrested French-harassed Moroccan Imam Hassan Ecuizen over statements deemed “contrary to the values of the Republic” on September 30, with the Imam out of sight since the State Council’s decision to allow his expulsion at the end of August, and then against him a European arrest warrant issued by Judge Valenciennes (North) on charges of “avoiding the execution of a deportation order”.
Source: AFP