Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – French President Emmanuel Macron in a newspaper is said to have issued an ultimatum to the French Muslim Worship Council (CFCM / Conseil Français du Culte Musulman). The 15-day ultimatum was published on Wednesday (11/18/2020) last week.
Quoted from TRT World, Macron asked the CFCM to sign a ‘Republican values’ charter. One of the important points is for the CFCM to state openly that Islam is only a religion and not a political movement.
Macron is said to want to stop other Muslim countries from helping the beleaguered French Muslim community in what Paris sees as “foreign interference”. This ultimatum comes amid allegations that Macron stigmatized Muslims following three separate terrorist attacks, which were condemned by the public.
French human rights defender who heads the NGO ‘Committee for Justice & Liberties For All’ Yasser Louati said Macron’s latest move was seen as “distracting the public from his own failure to prevent attacks”. “This also reaffirms the idea that there is a link between terrorism and surveillance of Muslim minorities,” said Louati, quoted Monday (23/11/2020).
Meanwhile, a draft law discussed next week also stated that the French government could dissolve Muslim NGOs if “their actions threaten human dignity” or if they “exert psychological or physical pressure on others”. “The law on dissolving organizations in France is already very problematic,” said Marco Perolini, Amnesty International’s West European researcher speaking to the same media.
Previously, France’s largest Muslim charity, BarakaCity, had been shut down by the French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, without judicial oversight. Its founder, Idriss Sihamed, recently spoke with TRT World and said the closure was politically motivated.
Previously, Macron had drawn controversy in early October when he made controversial comments about Islam while defending the re-publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. This has led to calls for a boycott made by a number of Arab and Muslim countries against products from France.
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