Woman locked up and debanked for criticising Islamism speaks out: 'I was treated like a terrorist'

Recalling her horror ordeal, Ms Faedda told GB News: "We were with activists from the Nemesis Collective, our right wing feminist group in a small town in France.

"We went with 15 girls wearing burqas to a café terrace to observe people's reactions, and ask them if they thought this could be what France would be like in 50 years, with Islam gaining ground every day here, as we know. And simply for that, we were stopped by the police."

Revealing what happened next, she added: "At first, they just checked us, they asked my identity, and they asked us what we were doing.

"So I explained to them that this was partly because of what was currently happening in Iran with the current revolt and the women who for years, but especially lately, have been fighting against Sharia law and are having to wear the veil, which is mandatory.

"But also because on February 1 is World Hijab Day, which promotes the hijab.

"It invites women to veil themselves, and we wanted to do something on this occasion to show that if we let events like this be normalised, celebrating the hijab, as I was saying, in 50 years it could be like France today - 15 women on a terrace, fully veiled with the faces concealed in the name of Sharia law."

Having been taken into custody for "undeclared demonstrations", the activist explained: "I was simply doing a vox pop, and there wasn't a demonstration per se.

In America, in England, all over France, it's common practice to do vox pops. You don't need to ask permission beforehand to go and ask people questions in the streets.

"We didn't have a slogan, we didn't have a sign or a banner. So the reason I was arrested was completely arbitrary. It came from the prosecutor, in fact, someone who was above the police. It's not the police officers who are responsible for this decision."

Revealing that she was in custody for "five hours", Ms Faedda said: "When I was taken to the station, the officers were relatively respectful towards me. I didn't have any particular problems. I was in a cell, since I was in custody for five hours, and I was questioned. And after being questioned I was able to leave, but they kept my phone to search it.

"They took my phone for three or four days. They wanted to search it as if I were a terrorist. In fact, they put more resources in trying to see what I was doing, what my organisation was, my movement, the Nemesis Collective.

"They put more resources into tracking us than into tracking down, ultimately, some rapists who are in France, even though they don't even have French nationality and have no right to be here."

The police officer told her that he had been trying to attempt to identify the other activists, but with no success: "So when I went back to the police station yesterday to get my phone, the officer showed it to me. He took some photos of my phone, actually, and he kept them photos related to that day when we went out wearing those burkas to ask people questions, he took forethought to try to identify the activists who are with me because they are anonymous activists. They don't want to show their faces.

"Maybe they will track them down to try to find them, I don't know. In any case, the investigation is not finished, but that was the reason why they searched my phone."

Warning that Islam is becoming increasingly "dangerous" in France, Ms Faedda said: "We all worried about Islam in France because we know that Islamism is dangerous, particularly regarding the safety of women. Generally speaking, we denounce radicalisation, Islamism, terrorism, separatism, and especially the difficulties of integration and the tensions surrounding women's rights.

"We know it's a religion that subjugates women. We saw this particularly in the wearing of the veil, which, let's remember, we've created to separate enslaved women from non-enslaved women so that men would know which ones they had the right to assault and which they did not."

She added: "And we know that in Islam, particularly in the Koran, there are many passages that do not praise women at all, such as Surah 434, which literally states that a man can beat his wife if she does not obey him. So France seems to be the only country which has a feminist movement against Islamist immigration."

Asked whether she believes there is a free speech crackdown in France under Emmanuel Macron, Ms Faedda responded: "So it's true that our freedom of expression among Nemesis groups is quite restricted. We know, however, that this isn't the case for everyone.

"The far left in France, as everywhere I think, enjoys almost total immunity. The left identify as being the good ones and despite often problematic stances, face no repercussions. On the other hand, we have indeed been subjected to relentless harassment by the justice system, and we continue to be."

She told GB News: "As we saw on Sunday with my phone and my detention, in two years of activism, I've been detained twice. My parents' house has been searched and the police came to search my home.

"Speaking of the collective in general, our bank accounts have been closed several times, which is a major obstacle to the collective survival. And most importantly, our Instagram accounts have been censored multiple times.

"Whether it's the main Nemesis Collective account or even our personal accounts, sometimes even those we don't use for activism, just the accounts where we post photos of ourselves on Instagram like many other young women and men do."

Declaring the crackdown a "witch hunt" against right-wing activists, she said: "And it's true that it's really a witch hunt. I even had a lawsuit, notably with the mayor of my town, who filed a complaint simply because I was calling for the expulsion of foreign rapists.

"So yes, I think that in conclusion, things have gotten worse. Being a nationalist, right wing and defending one's country, I think that's become even more complicated in Macron's France."