European securityDanish government considering plans to strip radical imams of citizenship
Denmark’s government is considering a proposal by an anti-immigration party to strip imams who preach ideas contrary to the Danish constitution of their citizenship. The proposal is part of an effort to expel outspoken radical imam Abu Bilal Ismail. Ismail is a leading imam at the Grimhoj mosque in the city of Aarhus, has openly called for the killing of Jews, and also the stoning of adulterous women and the killing of apostates.
Denmark’s government is considering a proposal by an anti-immigration party to strip imams who preach ideas contrary to the Danish constitution of their citizenship.
The right-wing Danish People’s Party (DPP), which currently has the second most seats in the country’s parliament, put forward the plans as part of an effort to expel outspoken radical imam Abu Bilal Ismail, the Local reports.
Ismail is a leading imam at the Grimhoj mosque in the city of Aarhus. He has called for the killing of Jews, and also the stoning of adulterous women and the killing of apostates.
Additional legislation may expand the limits of the Danish constitution to restrict religious freedom in extreme cases.
Martin Hendriksen, the DPP’s immigration spokesman, said: “The Constitution says that anyone can practice their faith so long as it is not contrary to morals, or disturbing to the public order,” Politiko reports.
He continued: “When imams endorse or recommend stoning, or when an imam tells a woman subjected to violence by her husband that that’s okay, then that constitutes, in my opinion, subversive speech that disturbs the public order.
“Some of these imams are Danish citizens, and we think we should deprive them of their citizenship.”
The Local notes that the proposals have apparently been backed by the Social Democrats, the coalition’s largest group, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Party, thus securing a majority for the bill in parliament.
Marcus Knuth, the Liberal Party’s immigration spokesman, said it was “a really good idea.”
“You have to come down as hard as possible on these environments. You are not just talking about twisted old imams. These are the mosques that have shaped many Syrian fighters, and they can be a threat to national security.”
Ismail’s extremist views gained wider public attention after the airing last month of the TV2 program called Moskeerne bag sløret (Mosques behind the veil).
His remarks on Jews, women, and apostates were caught by hidden camera.
In 2014, a spokesperson for the Grimhoj mosque said the mosque supported ISIS.
