France

Moroccan woman refused French Nationality because of "radical" religious practice

Article published on the 2008-07-12 Latest update 2008-07-13 09:38 TU

France's highest legal body has refused French nationality to a Moroccan woman on the grounds that her adherence to Islam is incompatible with French citizenship and gender equality.

The ruling was handed down in late June but only appeared in the French press this weekend. France's legal council refused the Moroccan woman French nationality by criticising what it called "a religious practice that was radical and incompatible with the essential values of the French community".

It noted the applicant's mastery of the French language but said that, as a Salafist, her practice of Islam was incompatible with gender equality in France. Police and social services had noted that she arrived for administrative appointments dressed in the burqa that covers the whole face and body.

The 32 year-old Moroccan woman's husband is of French nationality  and her three children were born in France.

France's Minister for Higher Education, Valérie Pecresse, has approved a ruling that "gender equality is not negotiable in the French Republic". The extreme-right Front National has also welcomed the news.

France's highest legal body has ultimately confirmed an earlier ruling in the same case, arguing that the constitutional right to freedom of religious expression had not been infringed by refusing the woman's application.