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Italy Expels Imam Under Anti-terror Law
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Muslims in
Italy
started feeling the fallout from the
London
attacks with plainclothes officers raiding homes of imams.
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ROME
, September 6, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Italy
has arrested on Tuesday, September
6, a
Muslim imam and ordered his expulsion under its newly adopted
counter-terrorism law.
Bouriqi
Bouchta, the imam of
Turin
, was arrested by security forces at his home in the Porta Palazzo
area, reported Agence France Presse (AFP) quoting the Italian ANSA
news agency.
ANSA
did not mention whether 40-year-old Bouchta, of Moroccan origin,
had actually been deported out of the country.
Bouchta
is the first imam to be ordered out of the country under the
anti-terror law, adopted late in July at the initiative of Interior
Minister Giuseppe Pisanu.
The
new legislation makes it easier for police to expel foreigners deemed
posing a risk to national security or found supporting or helping
terrorist groups.
It
also allows police to hold detainees for up to 24 hours without charge
and question them without the presence of a lawyer.
The
legislation further allows police to monitor phones and the Internet
and grant residence to illegal immigrants who collaborate with
investigators.
Surprised
The
arrest and expulsion of the imam drew rebukes from Italian Muslims in
the area.
Abdel
Hamid Shaari, the president of the Islamic Institute of Turin, said he
was surprised by the decision.
He
told ANSA that Bouchta's views had evolved since he arrived in
Italy
in the early 1990s "when he did not know the reality" of the
country.
Bouchta
was prominent among demonstrators in
Rome
on April 29 calling for the release of Italian hostages in
Iraq
.
In
November 2003, he criticized the expulsion of Muslim imam Abdoul
Mamour from the
Turin
region, saying, "We preach love, not hate."
However,
the xenophobic Northern League, a government coalition partner, has
been pressing for Bouchta's expulsion.
In
April 2003, the League staged a demonstration against the imam,
claiming he was close to fundamentalists and had praised the 9/11
attacks.
After
the terrorist attacks, Bouchta was accused of expressing solidarity
with Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden during prayers in a mosque, a
claim he vehemently refuted.
Muslims
in Italy, estimated 1.5 million, started feeling the fallout from the
London attacks with plainclothes officers raiding homes of imams,
scouring every nook and cranny and downloading numbers from their cell
phones looking for clues related to the bombings.
Imams
across Europe have been placed under the microscope after the
London
attacks.
French
authorities expelled in July imams Reda Ameuroud and Abdelhamid
Aissaoui to their native
Algeria
for reportedly encouraging violence in their sermons.
On
Monday, July 25, authorities in the southern German state of
Bavaria
deported an imam to
Egypt
on charges of inciting hatred and violence.
The
state has deported fourteen imams since November last year.
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