The municipal opposition group chaired by Alain Carignon filed a complaint with the public prosecutor after women dressed in “covering swimsuits” were able to bathe in a municipal swimming pool in Grenoble at the end of July.
New legal action in the burkini case in Grenoble. The opposition group “civil society, various right and center” chaired by the former mayor of Grenoble Alain Carignon announced on Friday August 12 that it had filed a complaint with the public prosecutor. The city’s ecologist mayor, Eric Piolle, is accused of having “expressly authorized the intrusion into the Grenoble swimming pool of women in burkinis, organized by the Citizen Alliance.”
The facts occurred on July 28 at the Jean-Bron swimming pool in Grenoble. A group of seven people showed up at the entrance to the municipal swimming pool where the staff “proceded in a classic way to check the bathing suits”, explained the City in a press release. Two of them were not allowed to enter the swimming area, their outfit having been judged “not in accordance with the internal regulations since amended by the case law of the Council of State.”
The others, on the other hand, were able to access the pools dressed in swimsuits “compliant” to the rules of procedure, “from the monokini (or topless) to the covering swimsuit”writes the municipality again. “In the pools of Grenoblesaid Eric Piolle on Twitter, you can bathe topless and wear covering swimsuits in compliance with the jurisprudence of the Council of State”.
And it is on this point that the opposition group chaired by Alain Carignon, fervent opponent of the burkini, seized justice. “A covering swimsuit, with or without a skirt, remains a burkini”, believes his lawyer, Me Thierry Aldeguer. In a letter addressed to the prosecutor, Me Aldeguer assures that “this intrusion had been relayed by the Citizen Alliance for a few days, and that therefore Mr. Eric Piolle acted voluntarily to authorize this visit”. Contacted by France 3 Alpes, the town hall of Grenoble did not wish to react.
The wearing of the burkini in the swimming pools of Grenoble had been authorized by the municipal council before being challenged by the Council of State on June 21, the latter considering that this provision carried “attack on the principle of neutrality of public services”. The highest administrative court explained that “contrary to the stated objective” by the city, the adaptation of the internal rules of its swimming pools “was only intended to authorize the wearing of the burkini in order to satisfy a claim of a religious nature”.
The new rules of procedure for swimming pools, amended since the decision of the Council of State, authorizes bathing suits “made of a fabric specifically designed for swimming, fitted close to the body”, without further details. By letting these women in bathing suits cover the Jean Bron swimming pool, Me Aldeguer believes that the mayor of Grenoble has surrendered “complicit in prohibited conduct”.
“Someone has to say stop to Mr. Piolle”he believes, judging that he “did not comply” the decision of the Council of State. In addition to the complaint filed with the prosecutor, the lawyer for Alain Carignon’s opposition group sent a letter to the prefect of Isère so that he “clarifies his position” on these events.
In July 29 press releasethe prefecture simply indicated that it had “exchanges with the City of Grenoble” about it, without saying more. The council of the opposition group is now awaiting the opening of a preliminary investigation.
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