Conservative Mayor of Villeneuve-Loubet, Lionnel Luca claimed after the that “rampant Islamisation is progressing in our country” and with the ruling to suspend his town’s ban on burkinis at public beaches “they’ve gained a small additional step”.
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The Council of State ruled Friday that a ban imposed in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet “seriously and clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms to come and go, freedom of beliefs and individual freedom”.
It is an interim decision while the court takes more time to prepare a judgment on the underlying legality of the case. Mayors who have banned burkinis cite concern about public order after deadly Islamic extremist attacks this summer, and many officials argue that burkinis oppress women.
But critics denounced the move as discriminatory and illegal.
Although the lawsuit centres on one local ordinance, the ruling by the judges in Paris sets a legal precedent for about 30 other municipalities that have similar prohibitions.
However, town hall authorities in Nice and Frejus, as well as in the Corsican village of Sisco, have vowed to keep the bans in place.
The Council of State will have the final say on the matter. The images provoked an outcry on social media, leading Christian Estrosi, the deputy mayor of Nice, to threaten he would prosecute “those who spread photographs of our municipal police officers and those uttering threats against them on social networks”.
“I will be the president that re-establishes the authority of the state”, he said, promising to protect the French and insisting it was not “fascist” to be concerned about security.
The Socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, has described the burkini as a “symbol of the enslavement of women” unacceptable under France’s secular constitution.
We hope the court’s ruling is just the first step to ending the remaining burkini bans.
Muhammad added that his group received 15 reports of discrimination against Muslim women on French beaches in the last two weeks, even though the women were in hijab and not burkini swimsuits.
The burkini ban has ignited fierce debate in France and worldwide. In Egypt, some resorts, elite clubs and restaurants ban veils entirely and the wearing of burkini-style outfits in swimming pools.
The CFCM’s secretary general Abdallah Zekri said, “This victory for common sense will help to take the tension out of a situation which has become very tense for our Muslim compatriots, especially women”. “It is contrary to the freedom of religion, which is a fundamental freedom”. Other mayors are also looking to defy the high court’s decision. France has long-standing laws on secularism, and the Nice ban focused on “correct dress, respectful of accepted customs and secularism, as well as rules of hygiene and of safety in public bathing areas”.
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The mayor’s office denied the woman had been forced to remove clothing, telling AFP she was showing police the swimsuit she was wearing under her top, over a pair of leggings, when the picture was taken.
