Court dismisses case against muslim man in polygamy row

A French court has dismissed fraud charges against a man at the centre of a polygamy row in 2010 in Nantes, western France, which emerged after his wife was stopped by police for wearing the niqab, the full-face veil. 

©Reuters

Lies Hebbadj, an Algerian-born, 35-year-old who has lived in France since he was two years old, was accused by the then interior minister Brice Hortefeux, of living a polygamous lifestyle with several wives who had given him 12 children.

In the charges, he was accused of fraudulently obtaining welfare benefits and having hidden a married life with two children.

The prosecutors claimed Habbadj and two other woman were living in ‘de facto polygamy’, but his lawyer said the investigation into the charges failed to reveal any serious proof against her client.

The prosecutors, who estimate the fraud cost the French state 90,000 euros, have appealed the decision.

The controversy over Hebbadj and his wife came as the government was preparing legislation to ban the wearing of the full-face veil.

Police stopped Hebbadj’s 31-year-old wife in Nantes in April 2010 and she was fined 22 euros on the grounds her niqab restricted her view so she could not drive safely.

French authorities in 2010 examined whether Hebabadj should lose his French nationality which he acquired after marrying a French woman in 1999.