Investigators will probe the mosques’ funding and the background of imams deemed suspicious.
The right-wing minister insisted the relatively small number of mosques targeted showed that “we are far from a situation of widespread radicalisation”.
“Nearly all muslims in France respect the laws of the Republic and are hurt by that [radicalisation],” he said.
A man walks inside a mosque in Paris, France. Credit:AP
The raids are part of a response to two recent attacks that appalled France – the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty and the deadly stabbings of three people in a church in Nice. In the aftermath, authorities raided dozens of Islamic sports groups, charities and associations suspected of promoting extremism.
Macron, the French president, has warned of the growing menace of “Islamist separatism” and its challenge to France’s staunchly secular Republic.
The freedom of belief, gender equality and the right to blaspheme is threatened in certain areas, he has warned, citing claims of children from conservative Muslim families being taken out of school, and sports and cultural groups being used to indoctrinate youth.
France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.Credit:AP
To combat this, his government will next week table a new bill on “bolstering the principles of the Republic”. Among its proposed measures would be to give each child in France a unique ID number to ensure they are attending school and not in “the clutches of Islamists”, as Darminin put it.
It would also make it a crime to intimidate public servants on religious grounds and crack down on online hate speech by enabling judges to hold fast-track trials of terror suspects.
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The draft bill also introduces jail terms and fines for doctors who provide controversial “virginity certificates” for traditional religious marriages. Those caught handing them out face a year in jail and a fine of €15,000 ($24,000).
Macron’s defence of French principles upholding freedom of expression, including blasphemy, triggered protests in some Muslim countries.
Some media suggested Darminin’s raids announcement was part of a plan to deflect massive criticism over his handling of claims of police brutality caught on camera in recent days.
The controversy forced the ruling party to revise a divisive bill restricting filming of the police.
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