Moftah, the former head of the Islamic Center of Hamburg, was forced to leave German soil.
Mohammad Hadi Moftah, the former head of the Islamic Center of Hamburg, left Germany as the two-week deadline for his departure ended. Less than two months ago, Germany banned the activities of the Islamic Center of Hamburg.
The German news agency ZDF wrote that shortly before the specified deadline for Mr. Moftah was to end, he himself left the country on Tuesday evening. The order for Mohammad Hadi Moftah to leave Germany was issued after he was classified as an extremist.
Hamburg’s Ministry of Interior officials announced on Wednesday that this 57-year-old Shia cleric left the country on Tuesday, September 10th. He is banned from returning to Germany for 20 years. If he had not left Germany, he would have faced a punishment of up to three years in prison.
Andy Grote, the Interior Minister of Hamburg State, expressed satisfaction with Mohammad Hadi Moftah’s departure from Germany, saying this means that one of the highest-ranking representatives of the Iranian regime has left Germany, and one of the most well-known Islamists is no longer in Hamburg.
Before leaving Germany, the former head of the Islamic Center of Hamburg had filed a complaint against his expulsion order with the Hamburg Administrative Court.
Deutsche Welle, quoting a spokesperson for the Hamburg Administrative Court, wrote that Mr. Moftah’s complaint, in the form of an urgent request, was submitted to this court on Tuesday evening, September 10th, 48 hours before the deadline. The spokesperson added that this request does not affect his departure deadline from Germany.