The burkini, a swim garment created to cover a woman’s entire body (much like a full wetsuit) and head, was banned as a direct result of the July 14 attack on the Promenade des Anglaise in Nice, according to the town’s deputy mayor, Rudy Salles.
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But what the bans amount to is the opposite of liberating: they’re a legally sanctioned oppression of Muslim women’s freedom to express their religious beliefs. Eighty-six people were killed in the attack by a man who drove a truck into a crowd that had gathered to celebrate the July 14 holiday.
Another Muslim woman was allegedly accosted by the officers, who drew their pepper spray, and coerced her into removing her hijab – the traditional Islamic head covering.
The woman in the photo removes her tunic at one point while a policeman appears to write out a fine.
Sarkozy says if he wins, he will ban every visible religious sign in French universities. “Beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation, when France and places of worship are now the target of terrorist attacks, is liable to create risks of disrupting public order”, he said in his ruling earlier this month.
The pictures show four armed police officers confronting a middle-aged Muslim woman resting like other beachgoers on the shore at the town’s Promenade des Anglais.
The photographs emerged as a mother of two also told on Tuesday how she had been fined on the beach in nearby Cannes wearing leggings, a tunic and a headscarf.
Ben Mohamed also claims that a Muslim woman wearing just a T-shirt and shorts got handed an incident report. A witness on the beach told the paper, “The saddest thing was that people were shouting “go home”, some were applauding the police”.
A French politician is threatening legal action against social media users for sharing photos of police enforcing a ban on the burkini.
Following a challenge from an advocacy group, the Human Rights League, France’s State Council will review the constitutionality of the bans.
The council held a hearing Thursday and is expected to issue a ruling on Friday. LDH seeks to overturn a decision by a Nice tribunal that upheld the ban on religious clothes by the French town, Villeneuve-Loubet.
CFCM had demanded “an urgent meeting” with Cazeneuve due to what they said was a “growing fear of stigmatization of Muslims in France”, according to their official statement.
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On Monday, a lower court in Nice ruled that the Villeneuve-Loubet ban was “necessary, appropriate and proportionate”.
