French judges uphold ban on burkinis as court rules they could provoke people to violence

Ban: the French have upheld a ban on burkinis
AFP/Getty Images
Peter Allen23 August 2016

A French court today upheld the “burkini ban” - ruling that the female swimwear was liable to cause offence and to provoke people to violence.

Two human rights groups challenged the controversial measure at the Administrative Tribunal in Nice, on the Riviera.

They argued that the ban on a garment that does not cover the face was petty, and designed to spread hatred against a small group of mainly Muslim mothers and grandmothers.

But judges said the ban in the resort of Villeneuve-Loubet was “necessary, appropriate and proportionate.”

They said the burkini was “liable to offend the religious convictions or non-convictions of other users of the beach.”

Judges also ruled the clothing could be viewed as a ‘provocation exacerbating tensions’ within France, which is currently under a State of Emergency following a series of attacks by Islamic State.

A lorry was used by a man claimed by Isis to kill 86 people in Nice on July 14, in an attack which took place next to the city’s main beach.

It is among around 15 where the burkini is now banned, and mayors across France are widening the measure every day.

But critics point out that 30 Muslims died in the Nice attack, including women wearing traditional clothes, including headscarves.

They point out how the French authorities are meant to support free expression, including the right to offend and provoke, and say that the burkini ban is utterly hypocritical.

Lawyers for the Human Rights League, and the Collective against Islamophobia in France - who challenged the ban in Nice - said they would now appeal to the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court.

Around 10 women have so far been criminalised for wearing burkinis on French beaches this summer.

All were reprimanded by police officers in the Riviera resort of Cannes, and forced to leave the sand.

Four were fined the equivalent of 32 pounds, while all received “warnings” that will now technically form part of their criminal records.

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