Top French court overturns burkini ban
PARIS: A top French court on Friday overturned a controversial, temporary ban on Muslim-friendly burkini swimsuits.
The Council of State’s ruling relates specifically to the southeastern town of Villeneuve-Loubet, but the decision is expected to set a legal precedent for the approximately 30 seaside towns that have issued similar bans.
Lawyer Patrice Spinosi of the Human Rights League told reporters in Paris that other mayors must adhere to the ruling and women who have been fined for wearing burkinis can challenge the penalties.
However, the mayor of Sisco on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica said he would not lift the ban following the ruling.
“Here the tension is very, very, very strong and I won’t withdraw it,” Ange-Pierre Vivoni told BFM-TV.
Mr Vivoni banned the burkini earlier this month after villagers clashed with three Muslim families. After four people were injured at a beach in Sisco, riot police were called to stop 200 people marching to a housing complex with a number of residents of North African origin, shouting “this is our home”.
The ban was imposed by the towns across France after a wave of terror attacks have increased religious tensions.
The legal challenge was brought by human rights group who say the bans stigmatise France’s Muslim minority and also encroach on women’s civil liberties. Proponents of the bans argue they help maintain France’s strict secular traditions. They say burkinis are a symbol of Islam’s repression of women.
He added: “French authorities must now drop the pretence that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women. Rather, invasive and discriminatory measures such as these restrict women’s choices and are an assault on their freedoms of expression, religion and right to non-discrimination.”
Yusra Metwally, from Australia, who is training for a major ocean swimming event, said she recently started wearing the burkini after purchasing one in Malaysia. She said she felt “a lot more comfortable” wearing it.
“To all people, regardless of their cultural, religious or socio-economic background, the beach is a sanctuary, a place to unwind and absorb the sound and sight of waves crashing against the shore.
The beach is not a place where armed policemen are welcome to police the clothing choices made by women” Ms Metwally said.
France has been embroiled in a debate over Islamic dress in public places for years. A permanent, national ban on wearing items of a conspicuous religious nature such as headscarves, veils and turbans in schools and government-run workplaces has been in effect since 2004.
It was extended in 2011 to include the outlawing of wearing full-face veils such as the burqa and niqab in public places.