French police have launched an investigation into a town hall official in a Paris suburb accused of having links with the Muslim Brotherhood, months after the government announced new measures to fight the organisation.
The official is described by French media as the right-hand man of Mayor Patrick Chaimovitch, of the city of Colombes north-west of Paris, who is affiliated to the left-wing Greens party.
The prosecutor's office, which has its headquarters in nearby Nanterre, launched an investigation over alleged “illegal acquisition of interest and money laundering” after the local prefect Alexandre Brugere filed a report.
Police started by searching the home of the official, Stephane Tchouhan, before seizing documents related to the financing of local grassroots organisations from the town hall.
“We gave them access to the offices, computers, and files,” Mayor Colombes told daily newspaper Le Parisien on Thursday, one day after the event, adding that “the police deployment surprised everyone”.
Mr Tchouhan has denied any links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
“The goal is to humiliate me, and this whole affair is a fabrication,” he said.
“They're portraying me as an Islamist and crucifying me in the public square without any evidence.”
Mr Brugere made his claims after the Lissen Institute, a language school that taught Arabic, French and English, was closed down earlier this year. The closure was linked to a security issue – a fire safety defect.
According to radio Europe 1, that is when officials from the prefecture noticed that the school's director was also the mayor's chief of staff.
Colombes' town hall said the prefect's accusations came after statements made last May “regarding Islamist infiltration” but there was “not the slightest proof” to back the claims.
“Not a single cent was given to the Lissen Institute,” Mr Chaimovitch told Le Parisien.
French prefects are high-ranking civil servants who represent the Interior Ministry in departments across the country.
They have a key role to play in President Emmanuel Macron's new strategy to combat the Muslim Brotherhood's influence on institutions. The officials have been encouraged to report any suspected use of public funds in supporting grassroots initiatives, particularly in youth sports, that may be viewed as affiliated to the organisation.
Arabic language and Quranic schools have also come under scrutiny, with some ordered to close down.
The Muslim Brotherhood was described in a recent report ordered by the Interior Ministry as subverting French values of national cohesion.
Left-wing parties are suspected by the right and far-right of harbouring so called “Islamo-leftist” sympathies. In June, political groups in Parliament, including Mr Macron's centrist group Renaissance, approved a request filed by right-wing politician Laurent Wauquiez to set up a commission of inquiry into alleged links between groups that propagate extremist Islamist ideology and French political parties, in particular leftist opposition party France Unbowed. Mr Wauquiez had called for “demonstrating links between France Unbowed and Islamism and anti-Semitism.”
This charge has been strongly rejected by leftists. On Thursday, Manuel Bombard, the national co-ordinator of France Unbowed, cited a comment from the director of the intelligence division of the Paris police, Hugues Bricq.
Mr Bricq said there were “very little” links between organisation, which traces its roots to an ideological movement originating in Egypt, and the modern far-left. On the contrary, he said, those links were stronger between hard-right "fringe" activists and Islamist extremists because of common anti-Semitic sympathies.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
