Overview

• The Hauts-de-Seine prefecture closed Institut Lissen on May 7, citing 16 critical fire-safety violations, including blocked emergency exits and building deterioration.
• Authorities suspect the institute was operating as a covert coranic school with extremist leanings, based on observed symbols linked to Islamist interpretations.
• Stéphane Tchouhan, the institute’s president and the mayor's chief of staff, denies all allegations of radicalism and claims the closure is politically motivated.
• The institute has acknowledged fire safety failings but is preparing a legal appeal to contest both the closure and the radicalism accusations.
• This case highlights tensions in France over secularism, the profiling of Muslim-affiliated institutions, and local political dynamics.