“There was insufficient evidence that he was undermining state security.” Did anyone ask him if he thought Sharia should ultimately be imposed in the Netherlands? “Court Reverses Deportation Of Radical Imam,” from NIS News Bulletin, with thanks to Morgaan Sinclair:
AMSTERDAM, 03/11/06 – Aliens Affairs Minister Rita Verdonk unlawfully deported a radical Imam from the Netherlands. The district court in Amsterdam ruled yesterday that there was insufficient evidence that he was undermining state security.
The Imam, Eisha Bersham of the Al Fourqaan mosque in Eindhoven, posed a danger to national security, according to the AIVD secret service. Based on the AIVD’s conclusion, Verdonk declared the Imam an undesirable alien on 15 June 2005. This meant she did not renew his residence permit.
The Amsterdam district court yesterday quashed the ministerial decision. The AIVD and the minister may have correctly concluded that the Al Fourqaan mosque was a feeding-ground for Jihad recruitment and that the Imam did too little against this. But deportation was still unlawful.
The AIVD’s conclusions are not so unequivocal that it can be said that the Imam was personally and actively involved in the radicalisation of a group of mosque visitors, explained the judge. The Imam could therefore not be called a danger to national security in 2005, ran the verdict.