France's Muslim gathering ban overturned by courts

2 hours agoHugh SchofieldParis correspondentAFPWomen preparing food during the 2018 eventA major gathering of Muslims in northern Paris is going ahead as planned after a French court overturned a government bid to ban it.The Paris-police-department" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="92520" data-entity-type="organization">Paris police department argued that the four-day Annual Encounter of Muslims of France was a security threat because it could be a target of terrorism.But the organisers – the Muslims of France (MF) association – sought an emergency injunction to let the event go ahead, arguing that a ban would be a breach of basic liberties.The administrative court agreed and overturned the government decree, just two hours before the planned 14:00 (13:00 BST) opening.The court said in its ruling that elements provided by police "did not establish the risk of counter-demonstrations, or that the gathering would be targeted by far-right groups".It also dismissed the argument that the event would pose an unacceptable strain on police resources, noting that the organisers had themselves assured extra security.Part cultural and religious conference, part trade fair, the gathering used to be an annual event, but has not been held since 2019. Before that it regularly drew tens of thousands of people from across Europe.The Muslims of France association - France's biggest Muslim body - is said by critics to be close to the international Muslim Brotherhood, though it denies that.Earlier, in justifying the ban, the Paris-police-department" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="92520" data-entity-type="organization">Paris police department said that in "an international and national context which is particularly tense", the gathering was "exposed to an important terrorist risk toward the Muslim community"."In a context of political agitation and a heavy polarisation of debate" it was possible that "small far-right groups could mobilise with a view to disrupting the event", it said.It also claimed that actions against the gathering could be "conducted remotely by foreign influences".France has regularly accused Russia, as well as Iran, of stirring up dissension by paying proxies to carry out small-scale acts of provocation or sabotage.The ban came as France announced plans for a new "anti-separatism" law, aimed mainly at Muslim structures promoting ideas deemed contrary to the principles of the republic.Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the aim was to complement a previous similar law, passed five years ago, which allowed the government to close associations accused of promoting Islamic separatism."There are still some structures which we have been unable to reach," he told a radio station. "One issue is how we control collective childcare. We need to be able to control it, but right now we can't."More generally, we want to be able to ban publications which carry appeals to hate, violence or discrimination."The MF's lawyer Sefen Guez Guez told the injunction hearing that banning the event was a "manifest breach of the right to assemble" and clearly aimed at "promoting the [government's] new law".But a police lawyer said the sole reason was to preserve public order. "This is not an anti-Muslim or anti-Islam decree," he said.