France’s highest court has ruled that the controversial burkini ban is illegal, according to The Telegraph.
This move follows a week of global anger and shock at the French police’s attitude towards Muslim women.
On Wednesday, photos emerged of armed French policemen surrounding a woman on a Nice beach and forcibly making her remove her swimwear. She wasn’t harming anyone and she wasn’t disturbing the peace. Her crime was lying on the sand with too much of her body covered up, according to the state.
That’s because authorities in several French towns including Nice have banned the ‘burkini’, a type of woman’s swimwear which covers the body and head, as they perceive it to be an outward symbol of someone observing their faith. Presumably in the same way that a nun would wear a habit.
You should be weeping, France. pic.twitter.com/Vn54GE4xlr
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) August 23, 2016
The woman pictured in question was a 34-year-old mother of two. Her first name is Siam. As a witness to the scene, Mathilde Cousin, explained: “The saddest thing was that people were shouting ‘go home’, some were applauding the police…her daughter was crying.”
After being challenged by human rights groups, which argued that the burkini ban on beaches and holiday resorts infringed personal freedoms, France’s State Council agreed to suspend the burkini ban.
In its judgement, the State Council said the burkini ban “constituted a serious and manifestly illegal infringement of fundamental liberties”.
Lawyer for the Human Rights League, Patrice Spinosi, said that the decision of the State Council in France to “suspend” the ban will also apply to 29 other towns that have the burkini ban in motion.
