In the room, avenue du Maréchal-Juin, in Nîmes, is taught in particular the Koran.
At 866, avenue du Maréchal-Juin, in Nîmes, at the end of an activity zone hosting several companies, the premises hosting the Les Portes de Jillaq association was prohibited from receiving minors, by administrative decision. “There were serious breaches of the legislation relating to the collective reception of minors, explains the director of cabinet of the prefect of Gard Iulia Suc. An emergency closure was proposed to the prefect. “
During a monitoring and evaluation visit conducted by the departmental youth and sports service on Wednesday 10 February, the presence of “47 minors aged over 6 and enrolled in the CP, CE1, CE2, CM1, CM2 age groups”.
The children attended the premises during extra-curricular time, including weekends, it was indicated. School support, Arabic lessons and “chanted recitations of the Koran” were offered to students.
Rigorous practices of Islam and community withdrawal
Several pitfalls have been noted. The main ones, mentioned in the prefectural decree of February 12, relate to the lack of prior declaration, by the organizer, of this collective educational welcome to the administrative authority.
Therefore, the state could not “carry out checks on the integrity of those in contact with minors”. This is important for verifying the qualifications of teachers and the existence of any antecedents that may prevent them from practicing with children. Other offenses were noted, in particular the risk of “marked level of danger for the public”, according to Sdis, present during the control.
It is within the framework of the departmental unit for the fight against Islamism and community withdrawal that information is reported to the State services, in particular on the basis of testimonies reporting rigorous practices of Islam and withdrawal community.
Previous in Montpellier
Last October, in Montpellier, the prefect of Hérault had also ordered the closure of associative premises of a local Portes de Jillaq, where children were offered, according to our information, the same type of activities. If the closure of the Nîmes premises was ordered by the prefect of Gard, the Nîmes prosecutor’s office indicates that the Nîmes file has been transmitted to the Montpellier prosecutor’s office to enable cases concerning the Portes de Jillaq to be grouped together.
Joined, the general delegate of the French Council of Muslim worship, Abdallah Zekri, explains that he was aware of the existence of this structure. “The Portes de Jillaq have a lot of students. Warnings had been given about the lack of declarations. But we have no evidence that they did not respect the values of the French Republic.”
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