French court acquits Tunisian Salafist

A French court has cleared Tunisian Salafist cleric Khamis Mejri of terrorism charges. At the hearing on Tuesday, the judge also refused to deport the Islamist, despite French Interior Minister Manuel Valls' claim that the sheikh is unwelcome in France. Afterwards, Mejri described the charges as "fabricated." The cleric accused human rights organisations of ignoring his case because of his Islamic beliefs. He said the charges were unfair and that he didn't have links to any extremist groups. Mejri claimed that he considered France to be his home since being granted political asylum after fleeing dictatorship in Tunisia. The French authorities had accused Mejri of promoting extremist ideas, that being a threat to national security. The Salafist cleric, one of the co-founders of the Tunisian Ennahda movement, left the party in 2007 after disagreements with its chairman Rachid Ghannouchi. Mejri returned to Tunisia after the January 14 revolution, in 2011, to take his place among prominent Tunisian Salafist.