Cleric approves wife-beating

An Algerian Islamic cleric was deported from France yesterday after announcing that wife-beating was authorised by the Koran.

Abdelkader Bouziane, imam of a mosque in the city of Lyon in eastern France, caused an uproar when he told a local magazine he was polygamous, believed “beating your wife is authorised by the Koran”, and expressed the hope that “the entire world becomes Muslim”.

Asked if he was in favour of stoning, he replied, “yes”.

The 53-year-old cleric was arrested and deported under an order issued in February on the grounds of societal harmony, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

“The Government will not tolerate public comments against human rights, which attack human dignity and, in particular, the dignity of women, calls to hatred or to violence, or justification of terrorism,” the ministry said.