French court rules burkini ban 'clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms'

(Image credit: FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)

published 26 August 2016

On Friday, France's Council of State ruled against the country's controversial burkini ban, which outlawed a full-coverage swimsuit worn mostly by Muslim women. While the court's decision only suspends a ban in the town of Villeneuve-Loubet, it has the potential to reverse the estimated 30 bans already installed in other cities and once again allow women to wear the body-covering swimsuits on the beach. The burkini covers the entire body including the head, leaving only the face, hands, and feet exposed, to better conform to Islamic rules of modesty.

French mayors decided to ban the burkini because of "growing terror concerns," CNN reported. The ban does not explicitly name burkinis, instead only prohibiting "beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation," The Guardian reported, but human rights activists quickly fought back, arguing that the ban impeded religious freedoms and encouraged fear-mongering.

The court sided with those activists Friday, saying that the ban "seriously and clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms to come and go, freedom of beliefs and individual freedom," BBC reported. The ruling is temporary, however, and a more definitive decision on the burkini ban is still to come.