VIENNA,
March 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Berlin's Federal Administrative
Supreme Court has upheld a district court ruling that ordered the
expulsion of an imam for “inciting violence.”
The
federal judge said Tuesday, March 22, that Turkish-born Yakup Tasci,
the imam of a mosque in Kreuzberg, should be deported “because he is
preaching violence at his sermons, a matter that poses a threat to
national security and discipline in Berlin, and contravenes freedom of
religion and speech.”
“The
imam has done too much harm to tranquil and peaceful Berlin, which is
melting pot for people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds.”
Tasci's
attorney, meanwhile, said that his client would leave the country
voluntarily and will not appeal the federal ruling.
A
German resident since 1976, Tasci was accused last year by the
Immigrant Department in Berlin of inciting violence for paying tribute
to the Palestinians and Iraqis, who sacrificed themselves to liberate
their occupied lands.
The
Islamic Union in Berlin, which runs 12 mosques in the German capital,
sacked the Turkish imam after his statements had caused seismic waves.
Islam
comes third after Protestant and Catholic Christianity. There are some
3.4 million Muslims in Germany, including 220,000 in Berlin alone.
An
estimated two thirds of the Muslim community are of Turkish origin.
Deportation
Drive
A
new immigration law adopted in January has, in effect, given an
impetus to the deportation drive, which primarily targeted tens of
Muslim.
Under
the new legislation, a special panel of the Federal Administrative
Supreme Court will take charge of handling potential deportation
cases, estimated to number 2,000 a year.
Once
a verdict is made, the deportees will not be able to legally challenge
the expulsion order.
Days
after the law went into effect, German states rushed to prepare lists
of thousands of Muslim immigrants -- whom the German authorities
dubbed as suspects -- for immediate deportation.
Bavarian
Interior Minister Gunter Beckstein told Der Spiegel magazine
earlier in the month that his state has already begun shipping out
immigrants under the new law.
The
campaign -- called by German media as “the cleansing operation” --
is, however, instigated by the interior ministry’s department for
expelling extremists and terrorists in the state of Bavaria.
Established
in November 2004, the state security department ordered the expulsion
of dozens of Muslims in Bavaria under terror and extremism claims.
It
is assigned with drawing up reports on the Muslim minority in Bavaria
and placing them under close scrutiny.
Other
states followed suit and started drawing up lists of imams to be
deported.
The
authorities have dubbed the blacklisting operation “Aktion
Kehraus” (Action Sweep Out).
