‘Judicial Jihad’ — Islamic Organisation Sues French Populist Marion Maréchal
French MEP Marion Maréchal has claimed that she is facing “judicial jihad” after being sued for defamation by an organisation which runs an Islamic school over her claims that it is tied to the radical Muslim Brotherhood network.
Maréchal, a Member of the European Parliament and heiress to the Le Pen political dynasty in France, will face a defamation trial in September from the ‘Values and Success’ association, which runs a private Muslim school in Valencia.
The case will focus on claims the MEP made on social media in 2023, in which she accused the association of being connected to the Muslim Brotherhood and having the “same objectives” as Al Qaeda and ISIS, Le Figaroreports.
The organisation previously sued the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo for defamation in 2022 over an article also tying the group to the Muslim Brotherhood, which, according to Values and Success, led to the cancellation of a real estate deal.
The case was ultimately tossed out, with a court ruling that “the attribution of proximity between the school and the Muslim Brotherhood… is a matter of free debate of ideas” and one “infinitely subjective value judgment”.
The court also questioned the grounds for defamation, given that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a banned terror group in France.
Commenting on the suit against her, Maréchal said: “For 15 years, I have been denouncing and fighting the Muslim Brotherhood. Wherever they try to advance, they find me in their path. They’ve understood this well. So they want to silence me with lawsuits, waging a veritable judicial jihad.”
“I will face them, in turn, in court on September 2nd. I’m counting on your support!” she added.
The case comes in the wake of a bombshell report from the French government, which alleged that the Muslim Brotherhood has embarked on a multi-generational effort to infitrate and subvert French and European institutions with the ultimate aim of instituting Sharia in the West.
The report also claimed that the radical network also targets migrant communities by inserting trained activists in key positions in private schools, local sports organisations, employment agencies, and Islamic dating sites in order to ensure that Muslim communities in the West adhere to strict interperatations of the Qur’an and to control all aspects of Muslim life in such communities.
In addition to hundreds of mosques and Islamic associations, the report found that at least 114 Qur’anic schools have direct ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in France.
