The imam of La Jonquera and that of Figueres, expelled from the State for spreading radicalizing speeches
The orders became effective in January.
BarcelonaThe Interior Ministry has expelled two imams from two Catalan mosques from the State for spreading radicalizing speeches that are dangerous for public safety, according to the ARA. They are the imams of the mosques of Figueres and La Jonquera and they have been expelled for carrying out an activity contrary to national security.
According to sources consulted by the ARA, the imam of La Jonquera, who was born in 1980 and who is also of Moroccan origin, was expelled a week earlier, on January 9. He was the imam of the El Firdaous Islamic Cultural Center. The expulsion of the imam of Figueres, Mohamed Azougah, who was born in 1982 and who is of Moroccan origin, became effective on January 16, as it has advanced Girona News and this newspaper has confirmed. He was destined for the Al Imam Wars mosque, of the Muslim association Marca del Ham. Police sources indicate that both cases are not related beyond the fact that they were being investigated for the same type of speech. The investigation and the expulsion were piloted by the National Police.
In addition, the ARA has been able to confirm that these two have not been the only expulsions for jihadism in recent weeks in Catalonia. On January 31, the National Police expelled from the State a young man from Terrassa born in 2003 and of Moroccan origin who is accused of distributing jihadist material from Daeix, the main terrorist organization with jihadist ideology along with Al Qaeda, through social networks. On January 13, they also expelled a man from Mataró from 1971 for carrying out the same activity. These expulsions are joined by another, that of a man from Zaragoza who was born in 1982, for disseminating the same type of content.
159 cases of violent radicalization in 2024
Last year, the Mossos identified 206 alerts about possible radicalisation, of which 159 were classified as violent. Of these cases, 60.7% were related to jihadism. The majority of the 159 identified as at risk of radicalisation were young people, although only 14 have ended up in the hands of the Public Prosecutor's Office; four in the hands of the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office. The Catalan police stressed that the intervention "reversed" the development of these processes.
"The detections were made at an early stage, without these cases becoming a threat to society," the force recently assured in a statement. As for the rest of the possible cases of violent radicalisation, the Mossos reported that 11.6% could be associated with the far right and 4.8% with other movements.
Increase in propaganda
Police sources who are dedicated to preventing terrorism often point out that since the beginning of the war in the Middle East there has been an increase in jihadist propaganda through the channels that broadcasters usually use. The case of Mataró and that of Terrassa, known this Thursday, fit this profile. The police task, therefore, focuses on virtual patrolling that is combined with a more traditional prevention action. One of the channels the police use to prevent these possible behaviours when they do not occur on the Internet is permanent contact with the communities, also with Muslim communities and Islamic associations that run mosques.
