FRANCE’S highest administrative court overturned the discriminatory ban on “burkinis” by a resort town yesterday in a ruling expected to set a precedent.
The State Council ruled that the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet could not stop women wearing the head-to-toe swimsuits on its beaches, in a case brought by two human rights groups.
The ruling is expected to have an effect on around 30 other towns that have issued similar bans in recent weeks.
Human Rights League lawyer Patrice Spinosi said: “Logically the mayors should withdraw these ordinances. If not legal actions could be taken.”
The French Council of the Muslim Faith hailed the ruling as “a victory for common sense.” But the mayor of Sisco in Corsica, Ange-Pierre Vivoni, vowed to keep the ban. “Here the tension is very, very, very strong and I won’t withdraw it,” he said.
Amnesty International called it a “line in the sand.”