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A8 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 1 april 2017

Muslims protest with street prayer in Paris suburb

PARIS (AP) — Hemmed in election. Far-right presiden- augurated in May 2016.
and closely watched by tial candidate Marine Le However, the Muslim group
police, hundreds of Muslims Pen has previously decried that helped organize Fri-
unrolled rugs and prayed street prayers, part of her day’s protest and which is
outdoors Friday in the busy anti-immigrant, anti-Islam calling for another dem-
streets of a Paris suburb to outlook. onstration Sunday says the
protest the closure of their Clichy Muslims had been new mosque is too small
prayer hall. using a prayer hall rent- and remote.
The show of strength by ed from City Hall. But the The building is a disused for-
throngs of worshippers in town’s mayor now wants to mer office block that City
Clichy highlighted a long- turn that space into a multi- Hall “turned into a mosque
standing issue for France’s media library for the town’s by throwing down a few
Muslim community, esti- 60,000 residents. rugs,” said Smail El-Baz, a
mated at 5 million people: City Hall refused to renew spokesman for the group.
a shortage of mosques. the three-year lease when
Such protests aren’t with- it expired last June and, Hundreds of Muslims pray on the street in front of the town hall He warned that the closure
out risk of a backlash, espe- following a court battle, plaza, seen behind, in the Paris suburb of Clichy la Garenne, Fri- of their prayer hall could
cially in the politically heat- closed down the prayer day, March 31, 2017. They protest the closure of a prayer room drive worshippers under-
ed atmosphere of France’s hall last week with help and call attention to their wishes for a mosque in their town, with ground and increase the
upcoming presidential from French police. a large Muslim population. risk of them becoming radi-
(AP Photo/Christophe Ena) calized.
City Hall says Muslims can The group wants its prayer
worship at a new Islamic hall reopened until the end
cultural and prayer center, of Ramadan in July and
already used by hundreds space for the building of a
of people, that the town in- new mosque.q
Russian prosecutors move to

block online calls for protests

V. ISACHENKOV es of resisting police.
Associated Press More than 1,000 protesters
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian have been arrested in Mos-
prosecutors moved Friday cow, and many of them
to block calls on social net- also have been sentenced
works for more street pro- to brief jail terms and fines.
tests in Moscow and other A dozen people working
Russian cities following a for Navalny are among
wave of rallies that have those serving jail time.The
cast a new challenge to U.S. and the EU have criti-
the Kremlin. Tens of thou- cized the crackdown and
sands demonstrators urged Russia to release all
turned out in Moscow and detainees, but President
other cities on Sunday to Vladimir Putin has rejected
rally against official corrup- the criticism as meddling in
tion in the largest outpour- Russia’s internal affairs.
ing of discontent in years. Without naming Navalny,
The Prosecutor General’s Putin, who faces re-elec-
office confirmed Friday it tion in March 2018, has
has requested the state denounced those protest
communications watch- organizers who try to use
dog to block pages on anti-corruption slogans
social networks calling for in “narrow selfish political
more protests in Moscow goals.”
and elsewhere in Russia Navalny has declared his
coming Sunday. intention to run for presi-
Russian opposition leader dent and vowed to appeal
Alexei Navalny, who or- a conviction that bars him
ganized Sunday’s unsanc- from the race, which he
tioned protest, is serving a denounced as politically-
15-day sentence on charg- driven.q