France has shut down about 20 mosques and prayer halls as part of the country’s fight against “radicalization,” the country’s interior minister says. Speaking after a meeting with leaders of the French Council of the Muslim Religion, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday that the mosques were closed down in various parts of the European country over the past eight months.

The minister also claimed that the religious sites, which were closed, were considered to be preaching radical Islam. “There is no place … in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques, and who don’t respect certain republican principles, notably equality between men and women,” Cazeneuve said, adding, “That is why I took the decision a few months ago to close mosques through the state of emergency, legal measures or administrative measures. About 20 mosques have been closed, and there will be others.”

Presstv