Police's religion request attacked

A police demand for a council to hand over details of “non-Christian” staff has been condemned as "unacceptable" and "inappropriate" by the Interior Ministry.

Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has told the director general of the Direction Départementale de la Sécurité Publique du Rhône he has 24-hours to explain the letter.

It was sent to the human resources department of the Regional Council of the Rhône-Alpes and asked staff to indicate "if they had workers of faiths other than Christian" and if any of them had asked for changes in work hours because of their religion.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said: "It is totally inadmissible to address a local council with a question of this sort, on a subject that has nothing to do with the Service Départemental d'Information Générale."
Photo: Jonas Roux