In a decree published Thursday, the prefect of Ardèche Benoît Trévisani closed an associative premises welcoming young girls under age for learning the Koran, citing reasons of hygiene and safety, the day after an unexpected inspection by the state services.
In appearance, the place looked like an old disused shop: an old jewelry store, in this case, nestled in a shopping street in the town center of Annonay, which with its 16,000 inhabitants is the most populated town in Ardèche. In reality, in the eyes of the authorities, this local association on rue Boissy d’Anglas would be a clandestine Koranic school, which ended up attracting the attention of the prefecture services following several reports and significant intelligence work. To the point of triggering a «control inopiné» this Wednesday of “Departmental Unit for the Fight against Islamism and Community Withdrawal”at the end of which the prefect of Ardèche Benoît Trévisani ordered by a decree published Thursday January 29 the “administrative closure with immediate effect” of this place of reception for minors in which young girls aged 5 to 11 learned the Koran in conditions of hygiene and safety considered inappropriate.
The place was used by a mysterious association created in 2016 and called “Harmony and Brotherhood”. Having no website or account on social networks, the association cannot be found online, and was until now unknown to the mayor of Annonay Simon Plénet, according to a statement from the person concerned to France Bleu Drôme-Ardèche. At most, the association declares in its statutes to carry out an activity of “youth and popular education movement”with the aim of“organize, promote, develop education, entertainment, culture, the practice of leisure and sport in the spirit of behavioral values in French secular society”.
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No confessional mention appears in the legal declarations of the association, which mentions a “teaching foreign languages” – without specifying which ones. However, during the inspection on January 28, state agents noted the presence of «25 minutes of age from 5 to 11 years» to whom we offered, between reading, singing, cooking and coloring, a “Learning the Koran”.
A source close to the matter confirmed to Figaro that in addition to the absence of diversity among the children welcomed, the inspection would have established that many little girls were veiled and dressed in an abaya. The room contained prayer rugs and an Islamic compass, which indicates the direction of Mecca. The female volunteers spoke Turkish. These elements confirmed reports of regular gatherings of young girls veiled from head to toe. “It’s unprecedented in Ardèche to have this kind of closure, even if the services have been following part of the Turkish community in Annonay for a while, and in particular the mosque associated with the Milli Gorus Islamic confederation.”specifies an internal source.
“Immediate risks to the health and safety of girls”
The fact remains that the reasons for the administrative closure of this reception for minors are based on the security and hygiene of the place. The prefecture particularly emphasizes “the absence of a fire extinguisher, the absence of an alarm device, the presence of a single exit not having the number of regulatory passage units, and the absence of regulatory control, in particular of electrical installations, these being also overloaded by the use of several radiators auxiliary oil bath.”
In addition, the control of state services made it possible to note the absence of health monitoring of children as well as an attendance register and registration forms, the absence of qualifications or facilitator certificates among supervisors, as well as the absence of declaration of collective reception of minors, a legal requirement which notably allows verifications on the profiles of the supervisors. It is therefore “in view of the immediate risks for the health and safety of the girls welcomed” that the Ardèche prefecture ordered the emergency closure of the place.
The association now has a period of two months to request a possible appeal. At the same time as the administrative closure measure, the prefecture made a report to the public prosecutor, allowing the opening of a judicial investigation.
