Burkini Ban Upheld in Corsica

A Corsica court has upheld a local ban on the burkini.

The court in Bastia ruled that the burkini ban was legal on public order grounds.

Last month, a beach brawl between families of North African descent and local youths left five people injured.

Photo Reuters

France’s top administrative court ruled in August that the ban, imposed in a number of towns across the country, violated basic freedoms.

However, the court also found that the measure was permissible if wearing the burkini was likely to cause a public disturbance.

On September 6, the Bastia court dismissed a challenge to the ban from France’s Human Rights League organization.

The court ruled that the burkini ban should be maintained because “strong emotions persist” on Corsica.

The measure was imposed by the village mayor in Sisco, where the mass brawl took place in August.

Mayor Ange-Pierre Vivoni said the verdict was “a relief for me and local people”.

He added that he had acted because he “risked having deaths on my hands”.

Witnesses said that hatchets and harpoons were used in the Sisco beach disturbance.

Tension has grown in recent months between local communities and Muslims of North African origin in the south of France, following the massacre of 85 people by a truck driver on the seafront at Nice on July 14, an attack claimed by ISIS.