French court suspends ban on burkinis
PARIS: A top French court yesterday suspended a ban on fullbody burkini swimsuits that has angered Muslims, feminists and civil liberties campaigners.
The ruling by the Council of State relates to the Mediterranean resor t of VilleneuveLoubet, one of more than a dozen French towns that have imposed such bans on the controversial costume wor n by Muslims on beaches throughout Europe.
The burkini ban has shone a l i ght on secular France’s l ong- standing dif f iculties integ rating its Muslim population and dealing with the after math of a series of Islamist attacks.
The court said in a statement the decree to ban burkinis in Villeneuve-Loubet “seriously and clearly ille gally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom”.
The lawyer representing the League of Human Rights campaign g roup which had challenged the ban in VilleneuveLoubet said yesterday the ruling meant all town halls would need to reverse their bans.
The group argued the bans contravened civil liberties.
But one mayor in Corsica said he would not suspend his own ban, showing that the ruling will not put a quick end to the heated controversy that has already filtered into early campaigning for the 2017 presidential election.
“There’s a lot of tension here and I won’t withdraw my decree,” Sisco mayor Ange-Pierre Vivoni told BFM TV.
The i ssue has also made French cult ural i dentity a hot-button issue along with security in political debates ahead of next April’s presidential elect i on. Prime Minister Manuel Valls robustly defended the burkini ban yesterday while some ministers criticised it, exposing divisions within the gover nment as campaigning begins.
For mer president Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday he would i mpose a nationwide ban on burkinis if elected as he seeks to position himself as a strong defender of French values and tough on immigration.
“This is a slap for the prime minister and a kick up the backside for Sarkozy,” said Abdallah Zekri, secretary general of the French Muslim Council. “We’re satisfied with this.”
Socialist Par t y spokesman Razzy Hammadi said he hoped the ruling “will put an end to this nasty controversy” which has aroused strong feelings on both sides of the divide. – Reuters