France in uproar over burkini ban as politicians claim beach arrest photos were STAGED

By Siobhan Mcfadyen

A FURIOUS row has erupted in France amid claims photos taken of a woman being asked to remove her burkini while she was lying on a beach in Nice were staged.

And now there are even claims the photos were stunted up as an attempt to provoke a reaction from the Middle East.

The photographs were shot on the Promenade des Anglais beach which runs parallel to the road where 86 people were murdered in a terror attack on Bastille day last month. 

They show a lone woman who appears to be sleeping on the rocky beach wearing a turquoise tunic over a swimming costume and black trousers.

She also appears to be wearing a headscarf.

The woman is surrounded by men and women who are sunbathing on the busy beach which is the largest in the tourist resort in the south of the country.

According to earlier reports, French police asked the woman to remove the garments, while photographers snapped photos and later distributed them to the media.

Now after the photos sparked fury a number of commentators, including politicians, claim the images were staged.

French Socialist politician Julien Dray said: "You don't need to be a genius to know what happened. I am suspicious. She is near a police post. She does not seem to want to sunbathe because she is covered up, but she does not have a parasol, either.

"Who sent a photographer to that spot to take those pictures. By whom? To what end? Hardly had they gone online than they went round the world, notably in the Middle East media.

"She was alone without a thing under the burning sun. The trap worked. There is manipulation."

Olivier Siou, political editor of TV station France 2, added: "These images seem to have been prepared. If this is true, it is very serious.

"That would confirm that people are deliberately try to damage the unity of our country and our freedoms."

Laurent Bouvet, founder of the political magazine Printemps Republicain, said: "Why, when there is a ban on that type of dress on the beach, should she place herself right in the middle without any accessories like a bag or towel and stretched out on very uncomfortable pebbles?"

Olivier Siou, political editor of TV station France 2, went on: "People are getting indignant about these photos, but not about the obvious provocation. 

"She was alone without a thing under the burning sun. The trap worked. There is manipulation." 

Now the city of Nice is planning to prosecute anyone who distributes photos of police officers undertaking reconnaissance work.

Former mayor Christian Estrosi said: "I denounce what seems like a manipulation that undermines the local police, and puts the officers at risk.

"Already, complaints have been filed to prosecute those who spread the photographs of our municipal police officers and those uttering threats against them on social networks."