The Paris Administrative Court on Friday suspended a police ban on a major Muslim gathering near the capital less than two hours before it was due to begin, allowing the event to go ahead.
Paris police had banned the annual gathering north of the capital, citing a "major terrorist risk" and saying the event might be targeted by small far-right groups.
The 40th Annual Gathering of the Muslims of France (RAMF) is taking place at Le Bourget, just north of Paris, from Friday until Monday. The congress opened at 2pm on Friday at the Paris-Le Bourget Exhibition Centre, following the court ruling.
The four-day event brings together conferences, exhibitions and commercial stands aimed at France's Muslim faithful. Its organisers bill it as the largest Muslim assembly in Europe. It is returning after a five-year hiatus.
Court ruling
In its decision, the court said the evidence presented did not establish a real risk of public disorder.
Judges said there was no proof the event would be specifically targeted by far-right groups or that counter-protests were likely.
They also rejected the argument that the situation required exceptional policing to justify a ban, noting that organisers had put in place additional security measures.
The court said: "The exercise of freedom of expression is a condition of democracy."
The ban had been requested by the interior minister on Thursday due to concerns over potential terrorism acts against the community.
In an official order posted on X (formerly Twitter), Paris police chief Patrice Faure cited "risks of public disorder" and said the event was "taking place in a particularly tense international and national context".
The order highlighted a risk that "small far-right groups" might try to disrupt the event, adding that the gathering was "exposed to a significant terrorist risk targeting the Muslim community".
The order also cited a foiled bid last weekend to bomb the Bank of America building in Paris – an incident that, it said, underlined the seriousness of the threat inside France.
French prosecutors said the attempted attack might have been linked to a pro-Iran group, as security fears flare over the war in the Middle East.
In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper on Thursday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the MF was "linked to the Muslim Brotherhood", although that claim does not feature in the ban itself.
Legal challenge
Makhlouf Mameche, head of the Musulmans de France (MF) – the federation of Muslim organisations which organises the event – said it was appealing the decision via an emergency procedure with the Paris Administrative Court.
MF's lawyer Sefen Guez Guez told the court on Friday that the ban was "a clear violation of freedom of assembly", adding that it was "part of a political agenda” and constituted “an abuse of power”.
After the ban was overturned, Guez Guez called the decision "a victory for the rule of law". He said it was "a decision of appeasement" to allow the gathering to take place.
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Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party, had disagreed with the ban.
"The right decision is to secure the area, not to ban this event organised by the Muslim community," he wrote on X. "This order perpetuates double standards, which are unacceptable in a secular republic."
However, French Imam Hassen Chalghoumi had thanked Nuñez and Faure for their "courageous decision".
Responding to Faure, he wrote: "This is not a demonstration by the Muslim community, but a mobilisation led by the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is anti-republican, separatist and fundamentally incompatible with the principles of the Republic."
Scale of gathering
According to officials, around 1,700 reservations had already been made for the event, with several thousand additional visitors expected each day.
The congress has previously drawn large crowds, peaking at around 170,000 attendees in 2013, according to organisers.
The case comes as the French interior ministry prepares a draft law designed to tackle the danger of radical Islamist elements infiltrating Muslim groups.
The bill is due to be presented to President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet at the end of April, the ministry told news agency AFP, confirming a report by Le Parisien.
(with newswires)
