Controversial imam Hamza Chaoui will be denied a permit to establish his Islamic community centre in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, a borough in Montreal's east end.
Chaoui is a Moroccan-born imam in Montreal with controversial views on sharia law and ties to suspected radicals.
Borough mayor Réal Ménard, who spoke at Montreal City Hall along with Mayor Denis Coderre on Saturday morning, said Chaoui was never given a certificate of occupation to begin holding meetings at his community centre.
Chaoui did apply for a transformation permit in January to renovate the building in question, Ménard said. However, he began promoting his community centre on Facebook before ever being granted a permit.
Ménard said it was part of his job as borough mayor to prevent Chaoui from carrying out his activities, a position Coderre agreed with.
"I don’t want to stigmatize the Muslim community. This is the work of one person," Coderre said. "This man is an agent of radicalization."
Chaoui has connections to radical Islamists.
He has preached at the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu mosque attended by Martin Couture-Rouleau, the Muslim convert who killed warrant officer Patrice Vincent in October.
Chaoui was also the leader of a Muslim association at Laval University. One of that association's members, Chiheb Esseghaier, is about to be tried on charges related to a plot to derail a Via Rail train travelling between Toronto and New York two years ago.
Chaoui uses social media to share his fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. He has posted to YouTube and Facebook his views sympathetic to sharia law, and he advocates that women should have designated guardians.
"There are non-Muslims who come to our home and tell us, ‘Really, you cut off heads, you cut off hands?' But that’s religion. It’s our religion in our own country. We decide how we implement it," he said in a YouTube video which has since been made private.
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Hamza Chaoui's Islamic community centre won't get permit - Montreal - CBC News
Chaoui is a Moroccan-born imam in Montreal with controversial views on sharia law and ties to suspected radicals.
Borough mayor Réal Ménard, who spoke at Montreal City Hall along with Mayor Denis Coderre on Saturday morning, said Chaoui was never given a certificate of occupation to begin holding meetings at his community centre.
Chaoui did apply for a transformation permit in January to renovate the building in question, Ménard said. However, he began promoting his community centre on Facebook before ever being granted a permit.
Ménard said it was part of his job as borough mayor to prevent Chaoui from carrying out his activities, a position Coderre agreed with.
"I don’t want to stigmatize the Muslim community. This is the work of one person," Coderre said. "This man is an agent of radicalization."
Chaoui has connections to radical Islamists.
He has preached at the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu mosque attended by Martin Couture-Rouleau, the Muslim convert who killed warrant officer Patrice Vincent in October.
Chaoui was also the leader of a Muslim association at Laval University. One of that association's members, Chiheb Esseghaier, is about to be tried on charges related to a plot to derail a Via Rail train travelling between Toronto and New York two years ago.
Chaoui uses social media to share his fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. He has posted to YouTube and Facebook his views sympathetic to sharia law, and he advocates that women should have designated guardians.
"There are non-Muslims who come to our home and tell us, ‘Really, you cut off heads, you cut off hands?' But that’s religion. It’s our religion in our own country. We decide how we implement it," he said in a YouTube video which has since been made private.
more
Hamza Chaoui's Islamic community centre won't get permit - Montreal - CBC News
