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 court said in a statement.
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It says local authorities can only restrict individual liberties if wearing the Islamic swimsuit is a “proven risk” to public order.
The ruling could set a precedent for up to 30 other towns that have imposed the ban.
Burkinis are rarely seen in France, though global sales have reportedly soared in response to French efforts to restrict their use. However mayors in neighbouring towns have vowed to uphold their own bans, as the issue continues to divide French society and make headlines around the world.
France’s top court struck down a push by local governments to ban the “burkini” from the nation’s beaches, saying the Muslim-style full-body swimming outfits do not create a public threat that justifies impinging on freedom of religion.
Amnesty International welcomed the ruling.
The suspension of the ban on the Islamic swimsuit, which has triggered a fierce debate in France and sparked critical headlines around the world, was welcomed by the United Nations, and a French Muslim group said it was a “victory for common sense”.
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who August 22 announced his candidacy for the 2017 presidential elections, called for a national prohibition on burkinis Thursday during his first rally in the south of France, as well as banning Muslim headscarves in all public buildings and workplaces.
Proponents of the ban argue that the burkini is a matter of national security, pointing to the July 14 attacks in Nice that left 86 people dead.
Marwan Muhammad (left) of the Collective Against the Islamophobia in France, one of the parties in a lawsuit against the town of Villeneuve-Loubet, speaks to the media following the ruling on a burkini ban.
In the town of Sisco in Corsica, mayor Ange-Pierre Vivoni said the ban would remain “for the safety of property and people in the town”. “The freedom to be granted to religious symbols should be considered on a par with the freedom to express one’s beliefes and to follow them in public life”. “Until they abide by the law”, Marwan Muhammad, the executive director of the association Collectif contre l’islamophobie en France (CCIF) said in a phone interview with BuzzFeed News.
The debate intensified as pictures began circulating online earlier in the week that show a woman surrounded by four policemen removing her long-sleeved top on a beach in Nice.
French prime minister Manuel Valls says burkinis represent the enslavement of women.
Critics have compared the enforcement of the ban to repression in Saudi Arabia and Iran, arguing that governing women’s clothing is a violation of human rights in any context.
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The bans have divided France’s government and society and drawn anger overseas, especially after images circulated online showing police appearing to force a Muslim woman to take off her tunic.
