French court upholds ban citing “religious radicalisation” but his lawyer calls it a case of Islamophobia.
A French court has upheld a ban on a Muslim engineer from accessing nuclear sites, citing his links with what it termed as “jihadist networks”, but his lawyer called it a case of Islamophobia.
Lawyer Sefen Guez Guez told AFP news agency on Monday that he was looking at launching an appeal.
The 29-year-old working for a firm subcontracted by energy giant EDF had been granted access to nuclear installations as part of his job throughout 2012 and 2013.
But in March this year, the man – who cannot be named according to French law, had his pass to enter the Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear power station revoked.
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In June 2014, Guez Guez successfully had the ban revoked by an appeals court. But when the engineer turned up for work, he found he was once again refused access – this time by EDF – to his place of work, and his lawyer appealed again.
France is home to some five million Muslims – the largest Muslim population in western Europe.
Like a number of European countries, France has expressed concern over young people leaving the country to fight in Iraq and Syria, and who could pose a risk to domestic security on their return.
According to official estimates, about 800 French nationals or residents, including several dozen women, have travelled to Syria, returned from the conflict-ridden country or plan to go there.
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