The president of the Australian National Imams Council has been banned from entering Denmark after he was placed on a sanctions list that targets preachers.
According to the Danish government list of “religious preachers with entry ban”, Sheik Shady Alsuleiman has been subject to a two-year prohibition from entering the country since April 10.
Repeated efforts to get comment from Sheik Alsuleiman, including by phone, email, Facebook and via the ANIC, were unsuccessful yesterday.
Danish Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Stojberg, who this year was criticised for claiming Muslims should not work during Ramadan because they posed a potential safety risk to society, announced the ban against the Australian cleric in a Facebook post in April.
In the post, she said Sheik Alsuleiman would be banned from entry as the Danish government, which last month implemented a ban on burkas, sought to stop certain preachers from entering the country.
“Shady al-Suleiman … from today will not be let in so he can preach … in this country,” Ms Stojberg said.
It is unclear whether a visa application triggered the ban; a spokesman for the Danish immigration service last night said: “We are not at liberty to talk about specific cases.”
Read the article by Mark Schliebs in The Australian.