AhlulBayt News Agency: Italy is preparing to deport an Egyptian cleric after he publicly expressed support for Palestinians’ right to resist Israeli occupation.
At a pro-Palestine rally in Turin on October 9, Mohamed Shahin, the former imam of San Salvario mosque, described the October 7, 2023 al-Aqsa Flood operation as “resistance after years of occupation.”
Shahin, 46, has been detained at a repatriation center in Caltanissetta, Sicily, since November 24, when counter-terrorism police arrested him in a dawn raid following the Interior Ministry’s expulsion order and revocation of his residence permit.
Seeking asylum, Shahin told the Turin Court of Appeal that deportation to Egypt would expose him to torture or even death, as he is a known critic of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“I do not promote violence. My message has always been that the Palestinian people deserve sovereignty,” Shahin stated in court.
Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that Turin’s prosecutor’s office found no evidence that Shahin’s remarks violated the penal code.
Ismaele La Vardera, a member of Sicily’s regional assembly, denounced the deportation order as “completely disproportionate and unworthy of a democratic nation.”
Around 180 academics signed an open letter demanding Shahin’s release.
Additionally, a coalition of Turin’s religious leaders wrote to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, voicing “shock and concern” over Shahin’s imminent deportation.
They emphasized that Shahin has been “a central figure in interfaith dialogue and cooperation with institutions,” warning that his expulsion would “undermine years of peaceful coexistence.”
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