Anthropologist cleared of defamation over 'Muslim Brotherhood ideology' claims

An anthropologist who studies the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in French institutions has been cleared of defamation charges. Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, a researcher at the CNRS, faced a lawsuit from Iman El Feki, a doctoral student at the University of Strasbourg.

El Feki accused Bergeaud-Blackler of defamation for remarks made on X in March 2025. Bergeaud-Blackler had written that "The "frériste" ideology has been gradually established in universities over the past thirty years," and accused El Feki of participating in the "Islamization of knowledge."

El Feki's research focuses on preventing radicalization, particularly in relation to the prison system. She shares texts by Rima Hassan on social media and appears veiled in official photos. Her work emphasizes the role of "religious devices" in supporting individuals after their release from prison.

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The "frériste" ideology has been gradually established in universities over the past thirty years.

Despite not being eligible for official functional protection, El Feki received financial support from the University of Strasbourg, which covered her legal costs. The university's president, Frédérique Berrod, also informed the CNRS about Bergeaud-Blackler's writings.

The court dismissed El Feki's complaint, citing a failure to precisely cite the passages in question within Bergeaud-Blackler's publications. Bergeaud-Blackler's lawyers stated that the court followed the law, rejecting what they described as an ideologically motivated procedure aimed at silencing her work on the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in French universities.

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The Tribunal followed the only compass that matters: the law (and nothing but the law), in an ideologically motivated procedure that aimed to silence the courageous and beneficial work of Florence Bergeaud-Blackler on the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood in the French university galaxy.