Paris police shut down mosque
December 2, 2015
Police carried out a raid at the mosque in the Paris suburb of Lagny-sur-Marne on Wednesday, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
In addition, nine suspects were placed under house arrest and three cultural associations affiliated with the mosque were being terminated. The raid represents the first time the French government has used its authority to dissolve such organizations.
"Such measures to close mosques because of radicalization have never before been taken by any government," Cazeneuve said in a statement.
French mosques facing scrutiny
The mosque in Lagny-sur-Marne is the third to have been closed by the French government since the terror attacks in Paris on November 13.
French authorities have been cracking down on alleged Islamists in the country, with 2,235 searches leading to 263 arrests in the past several weeks, Cazeneuve said. The government has declared a state of emergency that will last until February 26.
Meanwhile, Islamophobia has led to an increase in France in incidents in which mosques have been vandalized and Muslims have been attacked. Yasser Louati, who works for a French advocacy group called the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, told DW the government has done little to condemn such hate crimes.
blc/rc (dpa, AFP)