What is the religious ruling regarding an imam who prevents Friday prayers in a small mosque and threatens to close it so that people pray in his mosque 50 kilometers away?

Preventing people from establishing Friday prayer in their mosque with the intention of forcing them to pray in a mosque far away from them is a great injustice, based on the Almighty's saying: "And who is more unjust than one who prevents the mosques of Allah from being remembered therein is His name and strives for their ruin?" Preventing prayer in mosques is one of the greatest forms of striving for their ruin. The Imam must retract his threat and repent to Allah. Transferring Friday prayer from one mosque to another must be done with the consent of the congregation and the people of the town, due to the hardship this entails for the worshippers.