A French move against the Muslim Brotherhood: Parliament moves toward adopting a law to combat the group

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One year after the publication of a government report highlighting the role played by the Muslim Brotherhood in France,

the French Parliament adopted a bill introduced by former Interior Minister and leader of Bruno Retailleau, aimed at combating what is described as the “infiltration of political Islam.”

The bill provides for the creation of a new offense related to “undermining the principles of the Republic.”

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The official website of the French Parliament, Sénat Public, noted that “about a year ago, on this same date, Bruno Retailleau, then serving as Interior Minister, received a report entitled: ‘The Muslim Brotherhood and Political Islam in France.’”

The 73-page report identified 139 Muslim places of worship linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, 68 sites “considered close to the Union,” and 21 institutions identified as associated with the “Brotherhood current.”

Retailleau warned that this represented “a threat to the Republic and to our national cohesion,” describing the fight against the Brotherhood’s political Islam as one of his “top priorities.”

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The parliamentary website explained that after returning to his role as senator, and as the official candidate of the Les Républicains party for the upcoming presidential election, Retailleau translated his words into action by submitting this bill two months ago to counter this infiltration.

The text was adopted on Wednesday by the Law Committee after being partially revised by rapporteur Agnès Canayer through several amendments.

Canayer stated: “The text was developed in cooperation with various bodies, including intelligence services and the Ministry of Finance… These services had informed Bruno Retailleau, when he was minister, that they lacked concrete tools to confront this diffuse threat.”

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She added that “the bill constitutes an initial draft aimed at providing practical solutions to this phenomenon. Our role was to improve it, make it applicable, while ensuring respect for individual freedoms.”

According to the rapporteur’s revised wording, the offense now targets “actions carried out in a coordinated and coercive manner with the aim of compelling a public or private entity, or an informal group, to make decisions or adopt practices contrary to the applicable legal rules, with the intention of causing serious harm to the principles of the Republic as defined in the Constitution.”

These principles include: “the indivisible, secular, democratic and social character of the Republic, equality before the law for all citizens, respect for all beliefs, and equality between women and men in access to responsibilities.”

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Prefect approval required for the construction of places of worship

In committee, senators added to the requirement for prefect approval the obligation to meet the same criteria applied in cases of closing places of worship, including the possibility of administratively dissolving the entity submitting the construction request if it is subject to judicial proceedings related to terrorism or incitement to hatred, violence, or discrimination.

The bill also provides for extending the statute of limitations for press offenses to three years, a measure particularly targeting publications aimed at minors.

One year before the presidential election, this bill takes on a political dimension, especially as Bruno Retailleau’s successor, Laurent Nunez, is also working on a similar bill regarding infiltration, pending the opinion of the Council of State before its presentation to the Council of Ministers.

Bruno Retailleau’s bill is scheduled to be debated in a public session on May 5 and 6.

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