The bans have the backing of prominent French politicians including Prime Minister Manuel Valls, but have been condemned by human rights advocates on the grounds that they restrict personal freedom, unfairly target Muslims, and that telling women what they can and cannot wear is just a supremely shitty thing to do.
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With the decision to suspend the ban in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet, courts are required to follow the Council of State ruling. Officials on the other hand say the ban was enacted in efforts to assuage tension and growing terror-related concerns after a series of attacks shook up the country since a year ago.
Ange-Pierre Vivoni, who banned the burkini earlier this month, told BFM-TV on Friday: “Here the tension is very, very, very strong and I won’t withdraw it”.
The administrative court in Nice on Monday said the Villeneuve-Loubet ban was “necessary” to prevent “public disorder” after the Nice attack and the murder 12 days later of a Catholic priest by two militants in northern France. In theory, the state is neutral in terms of religion and allows everyone the freedom to practise their faith as long as there is no threat to public order. Socialist politician Christine Taubira said it will leave “a scar on French society”, adding that the court’s ruling should stop others from pouring oil on the fire.
On Wednesday, photographs that showed armed French police officers looking on as a woman removed part of her burkini-like clothing on a beach in Nice, southern France, were widely shared on social media and sparked fresh public debate on the issue.
It is yet to be seen how the towns will respond to the court’s decision as henceforth the mayors may face legal challenges if the ban on burkinis continue.
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”.
The right-wing leader said that lawmakers must vote “as quickly as possible” on an extension of the 2004 law that banned Muslim headscarves and other ostentatious religious symbols in classrooms to include all public spaces.
And, while the suspension only applies to Villeneuve-Loubet near Nice at the moment, the human rights organisations that brought the case forward hope the ban will be overturned elsewhere.
France’s controversial burkini ban has been overruled by the country’s top court.
There is no link between the terror attacks of Daesh and the dress of a woman on the beach.
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The protest is against the French authorities clampdown on Muslim women wearing burkinis on the beach.
