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France jails, throws out Pakistani imam for 'condoning terrorism'

WION Web Team
NEW DELHIUpdated: Nov 28, 2020, 08:06 AM IST
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This court sketch created on November 12, 2020, shows Pakistani imam of Villiers-le-Bel, during his trial for 'apology for terrorism' in the courthouse of Pontoise, northwestern suburbs of Paris. Photograph:(AFP)

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Arrived in France in 2015, Luqman Haider published three videos in which he is accused of having made laudatory comments about terrorist acts.

A Pakistani who occasionally officiates as an imam at the mosque of Villiers-le-Bel (Val d'Oise), France is sentenced to 18 months in prison and banned from the country for "condoning terrorism". 

He was prosecuted for having posted videos on the social network Tik Tok praising, in particular, the attack of September 25 in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo.

Arrived in France in 2015, Luqman Haider published three videos in which he is accused of having made laudatory comments about terrorist acts. 

In these videos, Haider congratulated the perpetrator of the machete attack that took place on September 25 in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdo. According to him, the assailant was a “brave man known throughout Pakistan” who had earned “status”, “honour through the Prophet”.

The Pakistani arrived in France in 2015 after a tumultuous four-year journey. France – and more precisely Paris – was his objective to “flee the poverty” of his country of origin. He finally landed in Villiers-le-Bel where “a large Pakistani community” resides, he explained to the Court.

(With inputs from agencies)