France has deported an Algerian Muslim “prayer leader” who told a magazine interviewer that he was in favor of wife beating and stoning: France expels radical Muslim prayer leader. (Hat tip: Carl in Jerusalem.)

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.”