France's interior minister defends freedom to "topless" on the beach

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Symbol picture "topless": "You will always see me in uniform"

At the end of last week, gendarmes in the south of France officially asked several women on the beach in the seaside resort of Sainte-Marie-la-Mer on the Mediterranean to put their tops on again. The incident became public on social media and caused a stir, the police were accused of prudish.

In view of this, Interior Minister Gérald Darmani now felt compelled to clarify the freedom of female upper bodies. There is no basis for blaming women for their clothes on the beach, he wrote. "Freedom is a precious good."

Policemen approached by concerned family with children

And: It is normal for the authority to admit its mistakes, wrote the minister. Shortly before, the local gendarmerie had responded to the allegations. She sees clumsy behavior on the part of the gendarmes in the incident. Accordingly, these were approached by a family with children about the women on the beach. The gendarmes then asked whether the women could put their tops on again - "led by concerns about appeasement," the gendarmerie said.

The spokeswoman for the gendarmerie said it was a matter of misconduct on the part of the police - but they thought they were doing the right thing. "You will always see me in uniform, but topless sunbathing is allowed on Sainte Marie la Mer beach," she joked on Twitter.

On other beaches, on the other hand, "topless" is actually not desired. It is not the first time that women's clothing on the beach has sparked heated debates in France. A few years ago there was a heated dispute over the ban on Muslim swimwear burkini on some French beaches.

apr / dpa