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Rabat – An Algerian businessman has agreed to bear the costs of the fines to the three Muslim women who were forced to pay a fine for wearing a burkini at the beach at Cannes, in southern France.
A 29-year-old woman received a fine set at €38, for wearing the burkini at the La Croisette beach, on August 13. A 32-year-old woman also received a fine for the same charge, on August 14 and a third aged 57, on August 15, according to le Parisien.
The burkini allows Muslim women to maintain their religious obligations at the beach by only exposing their faces, hands and feet.
“Although I am personally opposed to the niqab, I believe that nobody has the right within a democracy to prevent a person from wearing the clothing of their choice, said businessman Rachid Nekkaz. “Provided that this clothing is not a threat to freedom of others or the security of the territory.”
Six other women wearing a burkini on the beach were stopped and asked to leave the beach.  They were not fined because they complied with the new law.
Nekkaz funded a “freedom defense fund” with 1 million Euros in 2010 for the payment of fines for women who wear the niqab.
France banned the niqab, a full-face veil worn by more devout Muslim women, in a controversial ruling in 2004.
