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| It has come to light that one of the imams providing religious services
and psychological support for Muslims in Switzerland’s prisons is an
ISIS supporter and another is a MİT agent working for the Erdoğan
regime. ANF News |
"[When preaching to inmates] we stress that we are Italians of Muslim faith, Europeans of Muslim faith." ". . . We are one hundred percent citizens with rights and duties."
Union of Islamic Communities and Organizations president Izzeddin Elzir, Italy
In German prisons, the imams that are hired to work with Turkish-German inmates are in fact agents of the Turkish government which has an aggressive attitude of control and influence over Turks living in Germany. Turkey has invested millions in the construction of large mosques to service the millions of its expatriates in Germany, and it seems to believe that German citizens of Turkish origin are the direct responsibility of Turkey to maintain their Turkishness and remain faithful to Islam. How instrumental can such imams be in espousing loyalty to Germany and to turn from jihad?
Imams are well known to be involved in radicalization of Muslims living abroad, not only through recruiting them to the more sinister beliefs of' 'pure' fundamentalist Islam which glorifies jihad, but by entering the incarceration system ostensibly to do pastoral work with inmates, the results of which as in the United Kingdom, has alarmed government to a slight degree; a government that hardly took notice when imams were thundering their hatred for the West in British mosques and fomenting dissent and violence among the faithful.
So here is Italy, attempting to deal with the reality of violently radicalized Muslim incarcerates indoctrinating other Muslims in the prison system by bringing in 'moderate' imams to speak convincingly to inmates of a different value system in Islam than its heavenly-inspired origins as set down in the Koran and the Hadiths. Motivating Muslims living in Italy to think as Italians do, albeit with a Muslim perspective and to reject violent jihad and a detestation for Western, democratic values.
Italy has thus far been exempted from the types of violence that jihadist forces have visited on their European neighbours in France, Belgium, Britain and Germany. Even though Italy has been the entrance point for tens of thousands of migrants and refugees entering Europe illegally, it hopes to keep extremists at bay by arresting and ultimately succeeding in deporting those they suspect of extremism to ensure the security of the country, vulnerable to the presence of jihadis among the hordes of refugees.
In an effort to counter growing radicalization taking place among inmates, Italian authorities have been vetting imams to identify those who espouse "moderate views", to enter the prisons and speak reasonably to inmates. Unlike France and Germany Italy has no neighbourhoods crowded with concentrations of Muslims; even so Muslims disproportionate to their numbers in society crowd the prison populations.
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| Imam El Hacmi Mimoun, left, talks to Italian penitentiary Police
Commander Fabio Gallo inside the Terni penitentiary in Italy. After
learning that the suspect in the Berlin market attack spent time in
Italian jails, Italy has turned to 'moderate' imams to discourage
radicalization among Muslim inmates. (Gregorio Borgia / The Associated Press) |
Over a third of all Italian penitentiary inmates are foreigners, with 42 percent coming from Morocco, Albania and Tunisia. The advocacy group Antigone identified 411 chaplains working in the prison system, only 47 among them being imams in Italy's 200 prisons, where prison officials concern themselves that inmates may be more vulnerable to vile influence of those already radicalized in the absence of moderate imams.
The young Tunisian suspected of driving the
truck that plowed through shoppers at a Berlin Christmas market killing twelve people and wounding many others is believed to have become radicalized in Italian prisons where he had been imprisoned for three and a half years. Anis Amri was arrested and imprisoned for his role in a riot that took place at a migrant centre.
Upon learning that Amri had spent time in Italian prisons prison officials were spurred to become skilled at recognizing when an inmate is becoming radicalized.
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