Cannes burkini ban overturned after top French court ruling

‘Marianne has a naked breast because it’s an allegory, ‘ she tweeted.

A court in the Riviera resort of Nice upheld the ban this week.

Larrere also argued that Marianne is not always represented with a bare breast, but she’s always shown with her head covered, often with a Phrygian cap, an ironic allusion to Valls saying Marianne doesn’t wear a veil.

NEWS BRIEF French Prime Minister Manuel Valls’s invocation of Marianne, the symbol of the republic, to explain his continued support for banning the burqini on French beaches has angered politicians and historians alike.

In a speech on Monday night, he used Marianne, a national symbol of the French Republic, as reference and said “Marianne has a naked breast because she is feeding the people!” It famously depicts a young woman – an allegorical interpretation of liberty – carrying the French flag in triumph, with the neck of her dress slipped below her breasts. She called Mr Valls a “cretin”, adding: “Marianne has a naked breast because it’s an allegory”.

The figure came to symbolize liberty after the French monarchy fell in 1848.

During the 19th Century there were two competing images of Marianne that mirrored two differing concepts of the republic, she said.

Meanwhile, Cecile Duflot, a green former minister, said: “Mr Valls should have stuck to his text”.

The burkini has seeped into the French political scene in a big way after it was banned in several parts of France citing security concerns.

According to France officials, their country is known for giving liberty and freedom to women and wearing burkini on a beach is against their principles since it forces the women to hide their body and head.

Nice was one of the first French towns to ban the Islamic swimsuit this summer, with city authorities claiming there was a risk to public order from wearing the garment after a jihadist in a truck ploughed into crowds on the city’s waterfront, killing 86 people.

After the Council of State overturned that ban last week, human rights groups said they will challenge similar bans issued in 30 or so municipalities.

The Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) and the Human Rights League (LDH) challenged the Villeneuve-Loubet ban, turning it into a test case.

“These decrees do not improve the security situation but rather fuel religious intolerance and the stigmatisation of Muslims in France, especially women”, Rupert Colville, spokesman for the United Nations rights office, told reporters.