6 Muslim Shopkeepers Sue French Mayor After Banning Them From Opening Late During Ramadan

Paris, 27 Dzulhijjah 1437/29 September 2016 (MINA) – Six Muslim shopkeepers are suing Beaucaire French mayor Julien Sanchez after he issued a decree banning stores from opening late at night during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The Muslims say the mayor’s decision to stop shops from opening late at night during Ramadan was “racist”.

The ban, which was implemented in Beaucaire, a small town in southern France, said that all grocery stores located in the centre of town, including delicatessens and greengrocers, could not remain open for business between 11pm and 8am, IINA reported, quoting The Express Newspaper..

A second ban, which was enforced the very next day, said that “all shops” located in two of the town’s busiest streets had to close between 11pm and 5am.

The shopkeepers claim that the bans amounted to ‘racial discrimination’ because whenever Ramadan falls during the hotter summer months, as it has done for many years now, Muslims have no choice but to work at night as they must abstain from all food and drink, including water, between dawn and dusk.

The mayor, Sanchez, a member of the far-right National Front party, said that opening shops late at night caused a noise nuisance and upset local villagers living nearby. But the bans sparked nationwide outrage among French Muslims, and Abdallah Zekri, the president of the Observatory against Islamophobia, is supporting the case as one of the plaintiffs.

“The measures imposed by this mayor during Ramadan restricted the shopkeepers’ commercial activity, and are anti-Muslim,” Zekri said.

Khadija Aouaida, the shop owners’ lawyer, denied claims the men’s behaviour had caused trouble in the neighbourhood, and said that the ban was just a ploy to run Muslim-owned businesses into the ground.

Aouaida argued that the only people to have been affected by the ban were local Muslims and North Africans, who all suffered severe financial losses as a result.   Sanchez denies being a racist and even posted a video on YouTube this Tuesday to defend himself.

He said: “I cannot see the link between religion and noise nuisance.” The conservative mayor said he chose to impose the ban in order to make sure villagers could live in a safe and peaceful neighbourhood.

Sanchez is due to appear in court in Nimes this Thursday. (T/P004/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)