Philippe Vardon, president of Nissa Rebela, has filed a complaint with the Administrative Court of Nice. He is challenging the transformation of part of the city center into a community ghetto.
To put an end to street prayers that were taking place in Nice, the municipality used its right of preemption on a space illegally occupied for 11 years by Muslims on rue de Suisse. This space is still occupied by the same people, rented by the city hall, “thus confirming the presence of the Ar-Rahma mosque,” according to the president of Nissa Rebela.
Principle of Secularism
Philippe Vardon accuses the municipality of violating the principle of secularism by using public funds. “We do not know the amount of the fee the city hall is charging for renting this space. It appears to be a precarious occupancy agreement, but that doesn’t tell us how much they are paying,” says the Niçois. “The modest fee or the absence of a fee is a loss for the local budget,” he continues. Maître Pierre-Vincent Lambert, president of the Association for the Defense of Secularism, supports Philippe Vardon in his action. He explains: “There is a lot of ambiguity surrounding this preemption. We are therefore asking for taxpayers to know what the municipality is doing with their money.”
Depopulation of the City Center
The two men emphasize that this type of behavior from the city hall “encourages the creation of a community ghetto where the Niçois population becomes residual.” They claim to be “fighting against the depopulation of the city center by the Niçois.”
