France’s Muslim gathering ban has been overturned by courts, allowing a major event in northern Paris to proceed as planned, according to the BBC; the Paris police department had previously argued that the four-day Annual Encounter of Muslims of France was a security threat due to potential terrorism risks. However, the organisers, the Muslims of France (MF) association, successfully sought an emergency injunction to allow the event to go ahead, asserting that a ban would violate basic liberties.

Court Ruling Based on Security Assessments

The administrative court agreed with the organisers and overturned the government decree just two hours before the planned 14:00 (13:00 BST) opening. The court stated that the elements provided by police did not establish the risk of counter-demonstrations or that the gathering would be targeted by far-right groups. The ruling also dismissed the argument that the event would place an unacceptable strain on police resources, noting that the organisers had assured extra security.

The Annual Encounter of Muslims of France is part cultural and religious conference, part trade fair — the event used to be an annual occurrence but has not been held since 2019. Before that, it regularly attracted tens of thousands of people from across Europe.

Controversial Association and Security Concerns

France’s largest Muslim body. The Muslims of France association. Is said by critics to be close to the international Muslim Brotherhood, though it denies that. Earlier, the Paris police department justified the ban by stating 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 heavy polarisation of debate, it was possible that ‘small far-right groups could mobilise with a view to disrupting the event,’ the police 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.

New Anti-Separatism Law and Government Rationale

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the aim of the new law was to complement a previous similar law, passed five years ago, which allowed the government to close associations accused of promoting Islamic separatism. He stated, ‘There are still some structures which we have been unable to reach. One issue is how we control collective childcare. We need to be able to control it, but right now we can’t.’

More generally, Nunez said the government wanted to be able to ban publications that 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.’

A police lawyer argued that the sole reason for the ban was to preserve public order. ‘This is not an anti-Muslim or anti-Islam decree,’ he said. The ruling highlights the tension between security concerns and the right to freedom of assembly in France, a country with a complex relationship between its secular values and religious expression.