An Algerian Muslim prayer leader whose comments condoning wife-beating sparked an uproar in France was deported Wednesday, officials said.
Chirane Abdelkader Bouziane's expulsion to Algeria came a day after his remarks, which were made in a magazine interview, were widely reported by French media and drew swift reaction from authorities and Muslim leaders.
Dalil Boubakeur, president of the mainstream French council of the Muslim religion, said the remarks were "scandalous and revolting."
"You don't say things of such gravity without suffering very serious consequences," Boubakeur, whose council serves as a link to the government, told Europe-1 radio.
Bouziane, 52, imam of a mosque in the Lyon suburb of Venissieux, told the April edition of Lyon Mag that a man could beat his wife "under certain conditions, notably if the woman cheats on her husband." He claimed that the Quran, the Muslim holy book, "authorizes" such punishment — an interpretation rejected by most Muslims.
Asked if he was in favor of stoning, he replied, "yes."
Justice Minister Dominique Perben said Tuesday he was "personally scandalized" by the remarks.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement: "The government cannot tolerate remarks in public that are contrary to human rights, detrimental to human dignity and in particular to the dignity of women."
Bouziane reiterated the comments to reporters Tuesday, but specifying that blows to a woman's face and upper body should be avoided.
"Don't aim at the face, don't aim at the eyes, the ears, the nose," he said on LCI television. "Hit low, that is, on the bottom."
Authorities initially put Bouziane on an expulsion list Feb. 26 for disturbing public order, but the measure was not carried out, according to officials of the Rhone region where Venissieux is located. However, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin ordered it to "take effect immediately," the ministry statement said.
His expulsion came less than a week after another imam was forced to leave the country. Last Thursday, France expelled an imam who called for jihad, or holy war, from his mosque in Brest, in western France.