A top court has ruled that women in the French city of Grenoble are not allowed to wear full-body “burkini” swimsuits in public pools.
The ruling goes against the city council’s decision a month ago to allow burkini eating.
Swimsuits that cover the body – revealing only the face, hands and feet – are often worn by Muslim women who want to remain modest for religious reasons.
But Grenoble’s move has sparked criticism from conservative and far-right politicians, who say it will undermine Franceprinciples of secularism in public life.
The government objected to the council’s decision and a lower administrative court suspended the measure.
Grenoble then took his case to the country’s top administrative court, the Council of State, upholding the previous court order.
The State Council said: “The new procedural rules for Grenoble swimming pools affect … the normal functioning of the public service and undermine the equal treatment of users. , so the neutrality of the public service is affected.”
Following the latest ruling, Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin said Grenoble’s actions had been “rejected”. He called it a “victory for … secularism and, above all, for the Republic”.
Grenoble City Council says its main aim is to ensure equal treatment for all users.
Far-right party leader Marine Le Pen says she wants to introduce a law banning burkini from city pools
Authorities say the dress code in public swimming pools in France is very strict for hygiene reasons. Caps and baggy swimming trunks are generally prohibited.
No nationwide ban on burkini
Proponents of the burkini argue that some women will choose, or are pressured by loved ones, to stay away from public swimming pools if they are not allowed to wear full body coverings.
There is currently no nationwide ban in France, but they are banned in many public swimming pools across the country.
The leader of the far-right Rally party Marine Le Pen, who finished second to Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election in April and also succeeded in parliamentary elections last Sundayhas said that she wants to introduce a law banning burkinis in city pools.
‘The burkini ban discriminates against Muslim women’
Muslim rights groups say the burkini bans limit basic freedoms and discriminate against Muslim women.
The United Nations has called on France to lift the ban on wearing the burkini starting in 2016, with the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, saying the bans “promote religious intolerance.” and stigmatize Muslims”.
