Court rejects Muslims’ demand to lift burkini swimwear ban in Cannes

PARIS – A French court has rejected a demand by a group of French Muslims in Cannes to overturn a ban on full-body, head-covering swimwear on city beaches.

A lawyer for the Collective Against Islamophobia in France said after the decision Saturday by a court in nearby Nice that he would lodge an appeal with the Council of State, the highest administrative body in France.

Sefen Guez Guez said by telephone the decision was made by a judge without a debate.

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The ruling upholding the ban on so-called burkinis fell as the newspaper Nice Matin revealed that another Riviera town, Villeneuve-Loubet, had issued a similar ban.

France is at the height of vacation season, and on edge after deadly Islamic extremist attacks in Nice and on a Catholic church in northwest France.

WATCH: Cannes bans full-body ‘burkini’ swimsuits from beaches citing security concerns

0:47 Cannes bans full-body ‘burkini’ swimsuits from beaches citing security concerns