French court overturns ban on burkini swimsuits

PARIS: France’s highest administrative court has suspended a ban on full-body burkini swimsuits that has outraged Muslims and opened divisions within the government, pending a definitive ruling.

The Conseil d’Etat issued the ruling after a request from the League of Human Rights to overturn the burkini ban in the Mediterranean town of Villeneuve-Loubet on the grounds it contravenes civil liberties.

The court said the decree to ban burkinis in Villeneuve-Loubet “seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom”.

Under the French legal system, temporary decisions can be handed down before the court takes more time to prepare a judgment on the underlying legality of the case.

The ban, which spread to more than a dozen coastal towns, exposed cracks within the socialist government’s unity as Prime Minister Manuel Valls defended it on Thursday while some ministers criticised it.

The issue has shone a light on secular France’s difficulties responding to homegrown jihadists and foreign militants following Islamist attacks in Nice and a Normandy church in July.

It has also made French cultural identity a hot-button issue along with security in political debates as the country switches into campaign mode ahead of a presidential election next April. – Reuters

PICTURE: EPA A woman wearing a burkini participates in a ‘Wear what you want beach party’ protest outside the French embassy in London on Thursday. The protest was to show solidarity with French Muslim women and to call for the repeal of a law by the French...