Ickiussen case: ECtHR dismisses imam who filed a complaint against France

He fled France for Belgium after an expulsion order before being expelled by Brussels to Morocco. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Thursday declared inadmissible an application filed by Moroccan Imam Hassan Iquiussen, who claimed that his deportation put him at risk of inhuman and degrading treatment.

Hassan Ikiussen has lived permanently in France since his birth in 1964. Imam, he was also a lecturer, especially on YouTube, the ECtHR notes in the preamble. He is married to a compatriot, also permanently residing in France, has five children and 16 grandchildren.

But this imam, who lives in the Northern Department and is accused of making statements deemed “contrary to the values ​​of the Republic”, was the subject of an expulsion order signed by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on July 4, 2022. On 25 August he fled to Belgium, where he was arrested on 30 September. On January 13, the preacher was deported to Morocco. He filed an appeal with the ECtHR against France on September 29, 2022.

Appeal to the Administrative Court of Paris

His statement was based on several articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, in particular article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment), 6 (right to a fair trial), 8 (right to respect for private and family life), 9 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion), 10 (freedom of expression) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention. But the judges of the ECHR unanimously recognized all these requests as unacceptable.

The Strasbourg Court notes that the French authorities “did not decide on the deportation of the applicant to the Kingdom of Belgium. It was after his voluntary departure to Belgium that the applicant became the subject of a deportation decision to Morocco by the Office of Aliens of the Kingdom of Belgium.” Moreover, in order to apply to the ECtHR, the applicant had to exhaust all legal remedies in his country, which is not the case here, since one of the appeals filed by the Imam “is currently pending before the Administrative Court of Paris”.

“This decision is just a step,” said Lucy Simon, Hasan Ickiussen’s lawyer. “It leaves unchanged the question of France’s responsibility for the infringement of Mr Ickiussen’s fundamental freedoms and allows his transfer after domestic remedies have been exhausted. “His adviser is currently exploring other international approaches,” she added.