AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Nantes Administrative Court has upheld the Loire-Atlantique prefecture's decision to ban the annual gathering of the Muslims of Western France, which was scheduled to take place this weekend in Nantes. The decision was made just one day before the program was set to begin, drawing reactions from local officials and organizers.
Johanna Rolland, the mayor of Nantes, criticized the move, stating that thousands of Muslim citizens and their families have been deprived of attending a gathering they had long awaited. She emphasized that the French Republic should be a factor for unity among people, not division.
The mayor of Nantes also said she shares the "sorrow and disappointment" of the organizers and participants who intended to attend the event. According to her, the last-minute cancellation of the program has taken many families and Muslim activists by surprise.
The Loire-Atlantique prefecture had announced that Prefect Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze, by order of French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, had banned the annual gathering of "Muslims of the West." The gathering was scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday in the city of Nantes.
According to the prefecture's claim, the reason for the ban was the potential for some participants, including officials of the French Muslim Council, to make "illegal statements contrary to human dignity and inconsistent with the principles of the Republic."
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