The UK director of the campaign group Cage has claimed he has been deported from Poland at the behest of French authorities because he criticised Emmanuel Macron’s government for Islamophobia.
Muhammad Rabbani, who heads a group that campaigns on behalf of those affected by the “war on terror”, was due to give a speech this week at an international security conference in Warsaw that would have been critical of France’s handling of anti-government protests.
But he was detained and then deported back to the UK on Monday night. He claimed France shared information about him with the Polish authorities.
In July, Rabbani was banned from France over previous criticism of Macron’s government.
Under a document outlining the ban, France accused Rabbani of being part of a “radical Islamist movement” and “spreading slanderous words” about “supposed ‘Islamophobic persecution’ and mass surveillance by western governments, including France”.
Rabbani had flown to Poland to speak at a conference in Warsaw hosted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
It was during an OSCE conference last September that Rabbani accused France of joining China and India in launching “religious persecution” against Muslims. And he planned to criticised France again this year before he was stopped at Warsaw airport.
Polish border guards showed him documents, seen by the Guardian, which showed it was recommended that his entry to European countries be refused under a July update to the Schengen information system, which is used to manage borders in the EU.
It is unclear from the documents whether France was responsible for recommending this European travel ban. But Rabbani claimed the Polish authorities told him “they have instructions from France”.
In a video recorded in detention in Warsaw, Rabbani said: “France has issued some notice, telling the Polish border authorities to prevent me from entering the country. The Polish police don’t have any information as to what the reasons are.”
In a statement he added: “Through this ban, France attempted to prevent Cage from bringing public awareness at the international level regarding France’s systematic persecution of Muslims.
“However, France has not achieved its objectives as my colleagues from Cage are at the conference and have been joined by a number of delegates from various European countries representing Muslim civil society. We will not be silenced.”
He added that Cage was planning an appeal. “I will be challenging this legally and I am confident that we will overturn this ban. This shows that France is uncomfortable with public scrutiny and international awareness on its persecution of its Muslim citizens.”
France’s interior ministry set out reasons for preventing Rabbani travelling to France in a document dated 31 October 2022. It said: “Given the particularly high terrorist threat, his presence on national territory would constitute a serious threat to public order and the internal security of France.”
The French and the Polish embassies in London have been approached for comment.
