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| A woman in a burkini in Marseille in southern France |
France's highest administrative
court has suspended a ban on full-body "burkini" swimsuits that was
imposed in a town on the Mediterranean coast.
At least three mayors have already said they will keep the bans in their towns. The court will make a final decision later on the bans' legality. Correspondents in France say the court's decision means that all the bans on burkinis are likely now to be overturned,
But town hall authorities in Nice and Frejus, as well as in the Corsican village of Sisco, have vowed to keep the bans in place.
Nice saw a devastating attack by a follower of so-called Islamic State in July while Sisco witnessed clashes this month between villagers and Muslim bathers.
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Patrice Spinosi, a lawyer for the LDH, said outside court that people who had been fined could claim their money back.
But the town's mayor, Lionnel Luca, said: "We need to decide if we want a smiley, friendly version of sharia law on our beaches or if we want the rules of the [French] Republic to be implemented."
'Public humiliation'
Amnesty International welcomed the court's decision. The human rights group's Europe director, John Dalhuisen, said it had "drawn a line in the sand".He said: "French authorities must now drop the pretence that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women. "These bans do nothing to increase public safety but do a lot to promote public humiliation."
On Thursday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls described the burkini as "a political sign of religious proselytising".
The French Republic was "not at war with Islam", he argued, but "protecting [Muslims] against discrimination".
The burkini bans have ignited fierce debate in France and worldwide. Opinions polls suggested most French people backed the bans, which town mayors said were protecting public order and secularism.
Muslims said they were being targeted unfairly. The "burkini bans" actually make no mention of the burkini.
The rules simply say beachwear must be respectful of good public manners and the principle of secularism.
The controversy intensified after pictures and video of police appearing to enforce the ban by making a woman take off an item of clothing prompted widespread anger.
The court said local authorities did not have the power to restrict individual liberties in this way without "proven risk" to public order.